Délice Paloma (Paloma Delight)

Algeria/France 2007, 134 Min, English subtitles

Getting by in today’s Algeria, it seems, is a no-holds-barred undertaking... Need a building permit? Don’t want to be alone this evening? Want to get rid of your husband? Madame Aldjeria will take care of it. By unscrupulous trickery, the country’s self-appointed benefactor solves her fellow citizens’ problems – for the right price, of course. All to provide a better life for her son, her sister and their delightful employees, Paloma and Scheherazade. But her last scam turns out to be one too many. With charm, wit and dramatics à la Almodóvar, Moknèche created a gem of Algerian cinema.

2008 Lumière Award for best French language film.