Screentime

Arab World’s Only Oscar Winner Wants to Revive Film Industry

Filmmaker Hamed Rachedi, second right, with the Oscar for the Algerian-made film Z, at the 42nd Academy Awards ceremony.Source: Bettmann/Getty Images

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By Salah Slimani

December 21, 2025 at 8:15 AM UTC

Updated on

December 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM UTC

The only Arab country to have won an Academy Award is betting on an epic film about an anti-colonial hero and the opening of new production studios to restore its place on the movie-world map.

Algeria, which took home the Oscar for best foreign-language film in 1970 for political thriller Z, is planning a “historical reorganization” of the domestic industry, according to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s adviser for cultural affairs.