Hi Cousin! (1996)

Salut Cousin! is the tale of two Algerian cousins and their mishaps in the racially volatile environment of Paris.

Director:

Merzak Allouache

Writers:

Merzak Allouache, Caroline Thivel

Stars:

Gad Elmaleh, Messaoud Hattau, Magaly Berdy

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gad Elmaleh	...	Alilo
Messaoud Hattau	...	Mok (as Mess Hattou)
Magaly Berdy	...	Fatoumata
Ann-Gisel Glass	...	Laurence
Jean Benguigui	...	Maurice
Xavier Maly	...	Claude
Cheik Doukouré	...	Le voisin
Mohamed Ourdache	...	Rachid
Dalila Renault	...	Malika
Fatiha Cheriguene	...	Tante Adjia
Malek Kateb	...	Oncle Mohamed
Arno Chevrier	...	Goudrand
Mostefa Djadjam	...	Jo le barman
Faisal Attia	...	Présentateur rap
Guy Amram	...	Ghetteur

Storyline

Alilo arrives in Paris, met by his hip cousin Mok. Alilo is to pick up a suitcase of dresses to smuggle back to Algiers for resale. He's lost the dressmaker's address and his boss is gone for five days, so he stays in the Moskova neighborhood of the 18th arrondissement with Mok. Mok makes rap music of Jean de La Fontaine's fables, invents fabrications of his own, is in debt to his bookie, and in love with a punk rocker. Alilo's old-country sweetness, in contrast with Mok's big-city neuroses, gets the attention of Fatoumata, a lovely African neighbor. Once Alilo gets the dresses, he must return to Algiers, but it seems he's only started to live: is there any way he can stay?

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Plot Keywords:

rap | bookie | algerian | cousin cousin relationship | racism | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Country:

France Algeria Belgium Luxembourg

Language:

French Arabic

Release Date:

21 February 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hi Cousin!

Filming Locations:

Hôpital, 78 rue du Général Leclerc, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Val-de-Marne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artémis Productions,Canal+,Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Awards

• Tanit d'Or, Prix de l'OUA et Mention FIPRESCI au Festival de Carthage (1996)
• Best Screenplay and Best Film Director Film Awards (%'net, South Africa)
• Silver Pyramid at the Cairo Film Festival (1996)
• Meilleur film et prix d'interprétation à Mess Hattou au Festival de Montereau (France, 1997)
• Golden Anchor at the Haifa Film Festival (1996).

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Connections

Follows Bab El Oued City (1994)

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Soundtracks

Omri madanit

User Reviews

entertaining and enriching

Salut portrays post-modern French society, through the eyes of Maghrebines, truthfully and comically. The characters, despite certain eccentricities, are real and the actors who play them are truly talented. The movie follows a few days of an Algerian man, Alilo's, "business" trip to Paris where he stays with his cousin who has lived in the city for years. He is unfamiliar with the metropolitan ways of the city of that of his cousin. However, he soon finds that he is in love and wishes to stay in the city. Amidst that, we see the underlying problems peoples of Maghreb and immigrant decent face in France today.