Set in 1953 at a psychiatric clinic in Blida, Algeria, and shot on location, the film follows Frantz Fanon (Alexandre Desane), a young black psychiatrist, as he is appointed head doctor. A student of Francesc Tosquelles, Fanon challenges the inhumane, racist, colonial psychiatry of the clinic and replaces them with methods that allow patients to reclaim their individual identities and sense of agency and break down established barriers between doctors and patients, and between Christians and Muslims. 

Algerian filmmaker Abdenour Zahzah’s latest work is an illuminating portrait of the lesser-known yet critical early work of a physician, renowned politician, and decolonial activist, who conceived visionary social therapy methods during his time in Algeria. Abdenour Zahzah’s cinema - sincere, non-judgmental, sober - invites the audience to follow Fanon as he grew into activism, driven but a sustained sense of care for people’s wellbeing and social justice.

The UK premiere, on Sunday 3 November, is followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Abdenour Zahzah, hosted by academic and author James S. Williams.