La Rockeuse du Désert profiles Algeria's reigning female rocker, at The Cinematheque on February 12

Rendez-Vous French Film Festival matinee features Q&A with Quebec director Sarah Nacer

Septuagenarian guembri player Hasna El Becharia has long bucked tradition, at right.

Rendez-Vous French Film Festival and Alliance française de Vancouver present La Rockeuse du Desert (with English subtitles) at the Cinematheque on February 12 at 2:15 pm, with a Q&A by director Sara Nacer; presented as part of Black History Month

TRANSLATING AS “Rocker of the Desert”, La Rockeuse du Désert profiles septuagenarian Hasna El Becharia, Algeria’s first woman to play the guitar-like guembri.

El Becharia is an Gnawa icon who’s devoted her life to empower women of all ages, inspiring them to reclaim a musical tradition historically led by men.

Full of rhythmic music, dazzling desert imagery, archival histories, and interviews with the pioneering guembri-player (see the trailer below), the film is directed by Quebec’s Sara Nacer, who traces her heritage back to Algeria, is in town Sunday at The Cinematheque for a Q&A about the vibrant new documentary. Laura Bustillos Jáquez provides the assured cinematography.

World-music lovers will walk away with a new appreciation for Gnawa music and for a woman who genuinely rocks.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is cofounder and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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