Raï Is Not Dead

A rich, music-filled journey through cultural history that feels both celebratory and elegiac, rewarding close attention.

Created by

Grégoire Belhoste, Hadj Sameer

Genres

Documentary

Starring

Hadj Sameer, Cheb Khaled, Cheb Hasni

Overview

What musical genre can claim to have gone, in the space of fifty years, from a hidden cabaret in Oran to Super Bowl halftime? Born in Algeria at the end of the Second World War, the raï wave spread from the cabarets of western Algeria to the cassette shops of Barbès in Paris, before sweeping the world at the end of the 1980s. its hybridization, the intoxicating music traveled from Algerian and French weddings to the biggest international stages, before suddenly disappearing from the radar at the dawn of the new millennium. Icons that have disappeared, including Cheikha Remitti and Prince Hasni, to young heirs, passing by the star Khaled, the collector Hadj Sameer trace the tumultuous course of this musical genre, between clandestinity, planetary glory and resistance.

How it feels

Earnest, melancholic, uplifting and tense. Measured and needs your attention.

About

Music, art, identity, politics

Content

Mild violence, sexual content and language. No gore.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)