Zaïna, cavalière de l'Atlas (2005)

Director:

Bourlem Guerdjou

Writers:

Bourlem Guerdjou
Juliette Sales

Release Date:

26 October 2005 (France)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Horse Race | Loss Of Mother | Father Daughter Relationship | Horse Riding

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Aziza Nadir	...	Zaïna
Sami Bouajila	...	Mustapha
Michel Favory	...	Abdellatif
Simon Abkarian	...	Omar
Assaad Bouab	...	Kadour
Lounès Tazairt	...	Barak
Hassam Ghancy	...	Djilhali
Taieb Ajedig	...	Moncef
Mohamed Bouhriri	...	Hassan
Mohamed Majd	...	Imam
Gamil Ratib	...	Récitant / Narrator (voice)

Directed by
Bourlem Guerdjou

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Bourlem Guerdjou
Juliette Sales

Produced by
Bénédicte Bellocq	....	executive producer
Maurice Bernart	....	associate producer
Emma Klopf	....	co-producer
Souad Lamriki	....	executive producer
Philippe Liégeois	....	producer
Jean-Michel Rey	....	producer
Ira von Gienanth	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Cyril Morin

Cinematography by
Bruno de Keyzer

Casting by
Marie de Laubier

Production Design by
Laurent Allaire

Costume Design by
Emma Bellocq
Anaïs Romand

Makeup Department
Amina El Halhouli	....	makeup artist
Annick Legout	....	key makeup artist
Hicham Sahi	....	assistant hair stylist

Production Management
Miloud Akdim	....	assistant unit manager
Zoubir Belgsir	....	unit production manager
Driss Benchhiba	....	assistant unit manager
Mohamed Idrissi Chaouki	....	assistant unit manager
Vincent Léonard	....	assistant unit manager
Khalid Maya	....	assistant unit manager
Abderrahim Naji	....	assistant unit manager
Sybil Nicolas	....	unit production manager
Abderrahim Rbibe	....	assistant unit manager
Naji Tfil	....	assistant unit manager
Pierre Wallon	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Zazie Carcedo	....	first assistant director
Marie Dimberton	....	assistant director
Larbi Idrissi	....	assistant director
Amine Lamriki	....	assistant director
Mohamed Nesrate	....	assistant director (as Mohamed Nesrat)

Art Department
Karim Haffad	....	property master
Guy Vanderplaetsen	....	property master
Halima Zniber	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Jean-Philippe Angelini	....	assistant post-synchronization
Vladislav Boyadjiev	....	ProTools engineer
Fanchon Brulé	....	dialogue editor (as Fanchon Brûlé-Gaillard)
Annabel Callard	....	assistant post-synchronization
Annabel Callard	....	assistant sound editor
Frank Ceven	....	assistant foley artist (as Franck Ceven)
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Michel Filippi	....	post-synchronization
Dominique Hennequin	....	sound mixer
Mourad Louanchi	....	sound
Gilles Missir	....	assistant post-synchronization
Olivier Schwob	....	sound
Christophe Vingtrinier	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Benjamin Ageorges	....	digital artist
Stephane Bidault	....	visual effects supervisor
Christophe Chanvin	....	visual effects supervisor
Nicolas Delbecq	....	digital artist
Émilie Feret	....	visual effects coordinator
Jean-Antoine Lacolle	....	digital compositor
Adrien Servadio	....	digital artist
Christian Tomikowski	....	digital compositor
Matthias Weber	....	visual effects producer

Stunts
Faycal Attougui	....	stunts
Mourad Barouche	....	stunt rigger
Othman Ilyassa	....	stunt double
Gérard Lesage	....	stunts
Philippe Losson	....	stunts
Francois Poirier	....	stunts
Cedric Proust	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Joel Proust	....	stunt coordinator
Florian Robin	....	stunts
Olivier Schneider	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Nicolas Beauchamp	....	assistant camera
Adil Benmohamed	....	assistant camera
Tiphaine Birotheau	....	assistant camera
Francis Demange	....	still photographer
Brahim El Mazghi	....	gaffer (as Brahim Mazghi)
Renaud Fidon	....	key grip
Raphaël Gaillard	....	still photographer
Rodolphe Gonckel	....	electrician
Emile Laisné	....	key grip
Michel LeFrançois	....	electrician
Jean-Luc Luyssen	....	still photographer
Djmilah Mohcine	....	gaffer (as Mohcine Jmila)
Peggy Peigné	....	assistant camera
Dominique Pinto	....	camera operator
Charlet Recors	....	aerial camera operator
Abdelghami Rifki	....	grip
Redouane Rifki	....	grip

Casting Department
Noureddine Aberdine	....	extras casting
Mustapha Benstiti	....	casting assistant
Mustapha Grumij	....	extras casting
Pascal Tessaud	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Abderrahim Benkhayi	....	costumer
Deborah Benzaquen	....	costumer
Mohamed Bougati	....	wardrobe
Mohammed Boukhouima	....	costumer (as Si Mohamed Boukhouima)
Houssine El Behja	....	costumer
Marika Viviane Reitzman	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Jean-Loup Bro	....	digital color grader
Jean-Denis Buré	....	assistant editor
Nicolas Criqui	....	digital conformation
Élodie Ichter	....	digital intermediate editor
Philippe Reinaudo	....	digital intermediate technical director
Anne Souriau	....	assistant editor
Sylvie Van der Vorm	....	assistant editor
Clement Zveguintzoff	....	digital conformation

Music Department
Jérôme Devoise	....	score mixer
Thomas Jamois	....	soundtrack coordinator
Asen Kanchev	....	music production manager
Bruno Mercere	....	music recording mixer

Other crew
Jean-Loup Bro	....	digital grader
Rabii El Bakki	....	location scout
Rabii Elbakki	....	location scout
Anne-Marie Garcia	....	script supervisor
Mona Houd	....	production secretary
Frédéric Mouquet	....	horse coordinator
Samira Oukaroum	....	administrator
Édith Pavageau	....	administrator
Blandine Rayer	....	production secretary

Production Companies

• Rézo Productions
• Prokino Filmproduktion (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• FCC (co-production)
• Uni Etoile 2 (participation)
• Banque Populaire Images 5 (participation)
• Soficinéma (participation)
• Canal+ (participation)
• TPS Star (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (participation)
• Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA) (participation)

Distributors

• Rézo Films (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• AutreChose

Also Known As:

"Zaïna" - International (English title)
"Zaina: Rider of the Atlas" - International (English title)
"Zaïna - rytteren fra Atlasbjergene" - Denmark
"Zaina - Apodrasi sti Sahara" - Greece (DVD title)
"Zaina - Atlasvuorten ratsastaja" - Finland (imdb display title)
"Zaina: Atlas Daglari Kraliçesi" - Turkey (Turkish title) (DVD title)

Runtime:

France:100 min

Country:

France | Germany

Language:

French | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva)

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Company:

Rézo Productions

Ruling settings, lacking contents

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Europe is a continent which lends itself easily for starting up co-productions. ZAÏNA, CAVALIÈRE DE L'ATLAS is another proof of it. France, Morocco and Germany joined forces to produce this movie, which story takes place a long time ago somewhere in North-Africa. This results in the strange fact that, during that time period, all the inhabitants seemed to speak French. Oh, well, we'll forgive the producers because this clearly is a decision made from a commercial point of view.

Zaïna is an 11-year-old girl whose mother just died. According to Zaïna, her stepfather, Omar, was responsible for this incident. Then her real father, Mustapha, shows up. Until recently he didn't know of Zaïna's existence. She is entrusted to Mustapha and must accompany him during a 20-day-long voyage to Marrakech. There Mustapha will join the most prestigious horse-race of North-Africa. Omar, being very displeased with all this, starts to pursue them. During their difficult journey through the inhospitable Atlas-mountains father and daughter slowly grow towards each other.

This movie promises us adventure and excitement. Sadly it results in a movie lacking those elements. The only (not very spectacular) action-scenes are a sword-fight between the gangs of Omar and Mustapha, a nightly encounter with horse-thieves and the horse-race in the end (which is not so prestigious after all). The three sword-fights you can find in the movie are always over before they really started. And the blue/green-screen effects during the scene were our protagonists cross a ridge in the mountains are painfully obvious. I admit, this is not an American big-budget production, so you can forgive the effects being a bit transparent, but you can't forgive the Hollywoodian ending of this movie. Further more, this movie tries to make a statement about the place of women in society as portrayed during that time-period the movie takes place in, only to deny that statement at the end.

The dialogues are rather scarce and not really fluent. And it doesn't help that most of the actors give a fairly wooden performance. Though the three main characters do shed some tears at one point or another, all the actors seem kind of emotionless (except for the cheering ladies in the end).

So are there any reasons to see this movie? Most certainly. The settings and photography of the landscapes are astonishingly beautiful. From the desolate, rocky desert over the snowy mountain-ranges to the idyllic green oasis with a gentle rippling little stream running through it. Aziza Nadir, though very young, gives a decent performance as Zaïna and keeps strong between all the male testosterone. The way Mustapha and Zaïna start to appreciate each other more and more is beautiful to behold. And, of course, there's so many horses (not to mention the extol of them) that any horse-lover would want to see this movie.

ZAÏNA, CAVALIÈRE DE L'ATLAS is probably not Oscar-material (though it tries hard), but it is worth a watch. If only for the magnificent landscapes supported by an adequate soundtrack.