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The French-Algerian director Rachid Bouchareb, who will receive the Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s Career Achievement Award On Thursday, October 23, has been a key figure in international cinema for almost 40 years.
Born in 1953 near Paris, he began his career in television as an assistant director in 1976 before he started making short films and co-founded a production company, 3B, in 1988.
His first feature film was 1985's Bâton Rouge, and he has been nominated for an Oscar three times.
The film festival's director, Ali Al Jabri, said: "ADFF 2014 salutes French-Algerian filmmaker and producer Rachid Bouchareb, whose three films Dust of Life [1995], Days of Glory [2006] and Outside the Law [2010] were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
“Since the beginning of his career, Rachid Bouchareb has explored the complex relationships between France and its former colonies.
“Young filmmakers can take the cue from this master storyteller to convincingly portray the yet uncaptured perspectives on their life and society and project them onto the world stage.”
Bouchareb's latest film, Two Men in Town, starring Forest Whitaker as an ex-convict and a Muslim convert, is screening as part of ADFF's Showcase section. The cast also includes Harvey Keitel, Ellen Burstyn and Brenda Blethyn.
The film is screening on Saturday, October 25, at 8.45pm. ADFF will also host a public conversation with Bouchareb on Friday, October 24, at 2.30pm in Ballroom 3 at Emirates Palace, offering a rare opportunity to hear the distinguished director and producer talk about his life and career.
lcairney@thenational.ae