Amar Laskri (1942-2015)
Alias:
عمار العسكري
Birthplace:
Aïn Beïda, Algeria
Born:
January 22, 1942
Died:
May 1, 2015
Amar Laskri (عمار العسكري) was an Algerian filmmaker born January 22, 1942 in Aïn Berda. He studied theater, radio, television and cinema in Belgrade between 1962 and 19662. After three short films, he contributed, by directing an episode, to the collective fiction film L'Enfer à dix ans (1968) . He directed the Algerian Center for Art and the Cinematographic Industry (CAAIC) from 1996 to 1998, the year it was dissolved. One of his best-known films, described as unbeatable by El Watan, is "Patrouille à l'Est". A scene from this film has even become "cult", replayed multiple times on the internet: it shows a lookout shouting "Yaou Alikoum Men Guelma" to alert the fighters of the National Liberation Army, a cry echoed by the street watchmen . He announced in 2011 that he was considering making a film on Frantz Fanon, but hesitating between the choice of a fictional form (which would compromise the distribution of the film, Algeria having few cinemas) and a documentary which could be broadcast at television. The film remained in draft form. Upon his death on May 1, 2015 in Algiers, the daily El Watan described him as a "leading figure of Algerian cinema." His work is marked by the theme of the Algerian War.