I Still Hide to Smoke

Rayhana Obermeyer's 2016 film takes place in a hammam in Algiers over a single day. Nine women come to bathe; they differ in age, class and belief, and their talk turns quickly to marriage, virginity, violence and fear. Outside, the civil war is going on and walking in the street is dangerous. Fatima, who runs the hammam, is hiding a pregnant girl who has fled her family, and the girl's brother is looking for her. Despite the single location the film is not airless; the conversations open with humour and grow heavier. The director adapted it from her own play, after a Paris performance of which she was attacked. The film could not be released in Algeria. Who it's for: viewers who like stories about women and single-location films. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach violence and oppression; the film speaks about them directly.