Raï is not dead | Digital productions ARTE

Raï is not dead

A documentary series directed by Simon Maisonobe and Hadj Sameer

From Oran to Barbès and from Cheikha Remitti to Khaled, Hadj Sameer - collector, DJ and cratedigger - backtracks the turbulent history of raï music, whose hits submerged the planet in the 1980s and 1990s. Between France and Algeria, a journey through a legendary soundtrack recounting the beginnings of a defiant, hybrid musical genre that keeps evolving.

What musical genre can boast of making the transition from a secret cabaret in Oran to the Super Bowl halftime show in just fifty years? The raï wave, which originated in Algeria at the close of World War II, went from the cabarets of western Algeria to Barbès in Paris before taking over the world towards the end of the 1980s. Through its fusion of styles, this intoxicating music made its way…

Technical Info & Short Credits

Format
Series
Genre
Documentary
Duration
6 x 17min
Technique
Live action
Presented by
Hadj Sameer
Director
Simon Maisonobe
Authors
Simon Maisonobe, Grégoire Belhoste and Hadj Sameer
Coproduction
ARTE France, ZED

Credits

Unique features

  • From Oran to Barbès and from Cheikha Remitti to Khaled

    A look back at the tumultuous course of raï, whose hits took the planet by storm in the 1980s and 1990s

  • A mission for Hadj Sameer :

    To create the ultimate raï mixtape

Nominations and awards

  • WinnerFestival de Luchon 2023Short series