'Zabaneh' premier at Moqar Hall in Algeria

Thursday saw the premier of the film based on the historic hero "Ahmed Zabaneh" at 7pm. The film is about the first martyr guillotined during the revolution of the Algerian liberation. The Moqar hall in Algiers will revealed the history when the director Saeed Wald Khalifa evokes the lives of the heroes. The film was written by the Algerian writer Ezz el-Din Mihoubi and produced by "Laith Media" with contributions from the Algerian Agency for Spreading Culture as well as the National Center for Research on the National Movement and the Revolution. The actors participating in the film attended the premier in addition to the Algerian family of art. The film reviews the life of this symbol and his participation in the national movement and then then to the revolution and liberation. It also shows his quick arrest, prosecution by the court of occupation and his execution on June 19, 1956 at Barbaros prison in Algiers. Mr Ezz el Din Mihoubi told Arabstoday that the script was written according to what was said by his family, friends, and companions in prison including Saeed Stamboli in order to accurately portray the historical events focusing on the personality of the martyr who many people only know to be the first revolutionary executed by guillotine. The film's hero Imed Ben Shani who plays the role of Ahmed Zabaneh said that he was glad when he saw the first reaction of the viewers and that he has been waiting for this moment for a long time. He expressed his pride in playing the role of the martyr and he is grateful to the director Wald Khalifa for his confidence in him. He got the role after losing seven kilograms in weight.  The director hopes to be able to introduce Zabaneh’s personality to the Algerian and foreign viewers through telling history in cinemas in a way that respects the established trends. The film had already been promoted in The 65th Cannes Film Festival in May. The film was chosen to participate in the International Festival of Toronto in Canada next September within the programme of "modern global cinema". The national display will begin mid-October through all states of the country.