Madani, une vie en chaabi
Rachid Mérabet
2017 - 52 min - Video 720p/HDV - Couleur et Noir & Blanc - France

Born in the casbah of Algiers, the chaabi, music of the people, arrives in France with all Algerians who take the boat in the 60s, dreaming of a better destiny in the land of exile. Madani is one of them.
In his suitcase, he carries his dreams and his love for the chaabi, and settles in Roubaix where he works in the spinning mills. He will be one of those working-class artists who will be hosting warm, comforting evenings in the cafés of in the suburb of Lille until the 1980s. Phildar graduated and victim of a serious road accident that will break his body, memory and artistic hopes, Madani clings to music and poetry to overcome the trials of life.
Chaabi is his blues, which he shares the most possible with the younger musicians who come to play with him in Roubaix. And then in his eyes continues to shine the malice of the kid of Algiers.