DUBAI: French film distribution company Le Pacte has unveiled the first look at “Nos Frangins,” or “Our Brothers,” starring French-Algerian actress Lyna Khoudri, ahead of its global premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.
The hotly anticipated new film by three time Oscar-nominated director Rachid Bouchareb is launching in the Cannes Première section and tells the harrowing true story of French-Algerian student Malik Oussekine, who died in police custody in 1986, following several weeks of student protests against a university reform bill.
Khoudri stars in the film alongside a stellar cast that includes fellow French-Algerian actor Reda Kateb, Raphael Personnaz, Samir Guesmi and newcomer Adam Amara.
In the photos, the Algeria-born actress is pictured walking down the street alongside Kateb.
The French-Algerian actress stars in ‘Nos Frangins.’ Supplied
It is not yet known what role the 29-year-old is playing.
It is not the first time that Oussekine’s tragic tale has been adapted for the big screen. The 1995 French film “La Haine,” starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui, was largely inspired by the case of the 22-year-old student protester who died after being badly beaten by riot police after a mass demonstration in 1986, which he did not take part in.
The story is also being examined in “Oussekine,” a Disney+ series directed by Antoine Chevrollier that follows his family’s fight for justice.
Khoudri made her Cannes Film Festival debut last year during the premiere of Wes Anderson’s 2021 comedy “The French Dispatch” in July.
She is part of an ever-growing list of Arab stars working their way up the Hollywood ladder.
The Venice Film Festival Orizzonti prize winner is set to star in French-Algerian director Mounia Meddour’s new drama “Houria,” and most recently appeared in the period drama “La Place D’Une Autre” and “Haute Couture.”
She is also set to appear in a new two-part adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic French novel “The Three Musketeers,” in which she will star opposite Francois Civil as his love interest Constance D’Artagnan, formerly Bonacieux. In addition, Khoudri is shooting “Novembre,” a Cedric Jimenez-directed thriller about the French anti-terrorism services during the hunt for suspects after the 2015 Paris attacks.
