release date June 06 2024
Mouloud Aït Liotna's THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, MIGHT AS WELL GET WARM wins the Special Jury Award at the IndieLisboa - International Film Festival
Algerian director Mouloud Aït Liotna's short drama film THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, MIGHT AS WELL GET WARM has scored the Special Jury Award at the IndieLisboa - International Film Festival in Lisbon, the festival’s 21st edition ran from May 23rd to June 2nd.
Following the award’s announcement, the festival’s jury released a statement that read:
“Many of the films this year grapple with what it means to leave home. This anxiety takes on a specific shape when leaving is a choice. This film occupies the days before such a departure, when the most familiar actions — picking up milk at the shop, or drinking a morning coffee with your parents — transform into precious, existential experiences.
If you stop and think for too long, you won’t get on the bus, boat or plane. This ambivalence is felt in villages around the world, but in this case, it is a Kabyle village. For articulating this feeling with precision — both the humor and the heartbreak — we give the Special Jury Award to The House Is On Fire, Might As Well Get Warm.”
Starting its journey on the festival circuit with a World premiere in the Directors' Fortnight of the 76th Cannes Film Festival, the short film made history by competing in the National Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival — one of the most prominent international short film festivals around the globe — last February.
After world premiering at Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight, the film went on to make waves at several film festivals, including the Festival de Cinéma de Douarnenez, Bejaia Film Encounters, Cinemed - Festival Cinéma Méditerranéen Montpellier, and the Festival des Cinémas d'Afrique du Pays d'Apt.
THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, MIGHT AS WELL GET WARM follows Yanis — a young Kabyle man — who is leaving for Paris. To tie up some loose ends, he goes to the nearby village, where he learns of the death of a childhood friend and meets another at the funeral.
A mishap in a café turns his last day in the backwaters of an earthy and soggy Algeria into a road movie — at first desperate, then thoughtful, and melancholic.
With magnificent cinematography and impressive cast performances, the film blends elements of drama and road movie genres to create a thought-provoking and melancholic experience for audiences. It also sheds light on the issue of Algerian immigration into France.
While it was in its production phase, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, MIGHT AS WELL GET WARM received financial support from several prestigious institutions, including Région Occitanie, AFAC, and the Centre National du Cinéma et de l'Image Animée.
Written and directed by Mouloud Aït Liotna and produced by Avant la Nuit of Benjamin Costes and Thibaut Amri, the film stars Mehdi Ramdani — well-known for UNTIL THE BIRDS RETURN, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard — and Mohamed Lefkir.
The film was lensed by Jowan Le Besco and edited by Esther Frey. MAD Distribution handles the film’s distribution in the Arab-speaking world.
Mouloud Aït Liotna grew up in Algeria and left for France before his 18th birthday. There, he studied cinema and philosophy before working in documentary development.
THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE, MIGHT AS WELL GET WARM is his first short film.
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