Mohamed Chouikh

Mohamed Chouikh (Arabic: محمد الشويخ), born September 3, 1943, in Mostaganem, Algeria, is an Algerian actor, screenwriter, and director. He was eleven years old in 1954 when the Algerian War began. Following the declaration of independence in 1962, he joined a theater troupe that would later become the Algerian National Theater. From then on, he actively worked with other artists to develop theater and cinema in Algeria. In 1965, Mohamed Chouikh starred in one of the first major Algerian films, "L'aube des damnés" (The Dawn of the Damned) by René Vautier and Ahmed Rachedi. In 1966, he played the role of Lakhdar (the son) in "Le vent des Aurès" (The Wind of the Aurès) by Mohamed Lakhdar Hamina. The film won the Best First Feature award at Cannes. Until 1970, Mohamed Chouikh devoted himself primarily to his acting career in theater and film. It was Michel Drach's film, "Elise ou la Vraie Vie" (Elise or Real Life), based on the novel by Claire Etcherelli, that brought him to the attention of French audiences. 1972 marked a turning point. Alongside his acting career, Chouikh began writing and participated in various film shoots. He directed his first films for Algerian television: "L’embouchure" (The Mouth) (1972) and "Les paumés" (The Lost Ones) (1974). In 1982, he was Lakhdar Hamina's assistant director on "Vent de Sable" (Sand Wind) (an official selection at Cannes). In 1983, "Rupture" (Breakup) was presented at the Directors' Fortnight. Until 1989, Mohamed Chouikh directed various documentaries and short films. But it was in 1989 that he achieved international acclaim with "The Citadel," which won some twenty awards at various festivals. In 1993, "Youcef or the Legend of the Seventh Sleeper," a brilliant denunciation of the hijacking of the ideal of Independence by corrupt elites, was presented in Venice and Berlin. And in 1997, "The Desert Ark" began its run at the Locarno Film Festival. Mohamed Chouikh's cinema remains deeply rooted in the Algerian society in which he lives and which he examines through his films. He is one of the few Algerian artists to have spent his entire career—first as a theater actor, then as a film actor, assistant director, and finally director—entirely in Algeria. His filmography positions him as one of the most important filmmakers in the Maghreb. In 2023 he began directing, with his daughter Yasmine Chouikh, the film Ben Khlouf, about the life of the 16th century Algerian poet, Sidi Lakhdar Ben Khlouf, which is scheduled for release in 2026.