Tahia ya Didou! (Viva Didou!). 1971. Algeria. Directed by Mohamed Zinet. With Himoud Brahimi, Mohamed Zinet, Georges Arnaud, André Moreau, Suzie Naceur, N. Drai. In Arabic; English subtitles. New York restoration premiere. 81 min.
Mohamed Zinet—who joined the ranks of the Algerian liberation struggle before acting in, or working on, films by Ennio Lorenzini, Gillo Pontecorvo, Sarah Maldoror, and René Vautier—has this sole directorial credit to his name. Tahia ya Didou was initially commissioned by the City of Algiers as a vehicle to promote tourism, but it was shelved after the government saw Zinet’s end result: a rollicking mix of fiction and documentary that veers between scathing antiauthoritarianism and slapstick. Yet the film stays true to its origin as a tribute to the seaside capital, exuding the vibrancy of its inhabitants and the momentum of the post-independence moment—that is, until a French tourist couple the film has been following have an unexpected run-in, and the past comes barreling back. This gem of Algerian cinema screens in a recent restoration, which is being presented for the first time in the United States.