Mahi Bena

My name is Mahi Bena, i was born in Oran/Algeria on November 9th, 1974. I did all his studies and my life in Algeria till November 12th, 2001 when i set foot for the first time in France.
As a kid, i took part of a film club, but like all other sectors, the Algerian cinema has not been spared by the crisis, political and economic, that the country went through in the late 80s and early 90s. Therefore, film clubs were no longer subsidized and had to stop their activities. Culture is not a priority for the Algerian government in place at the same time.
Since I was in France, i wrote many short films: "Boomerang: the short", "The Third Voice", "The Escort", "A Patriot", "Who Wins Loses ...", "Last-Ditch", "Duplicity" and recently "Libérable".
I wrote a very ambitious script called: "AMBUSH: Chronicles of an unnamed war" which the scene takes place during the bloody decade hit Algeria since more than ten years. The film chronicles the last two weeks of a platoon of soldiers during a sweep operation in the mountains of western Algeria. The script was one of 20 selected scenarios for the benefit of using CNC "promise new talent" and Lyes SALEM want to direct it.
The theme is not accidental because in addition to the fact that i am Algerian, i was a pilot fighter in the Algerian air force for more than three years. Experience related in "Memoirs of a Bad Soldier" the Short story was published by Editions bus shelter in October 2003.
The short film "AT ALL COSTS“ i wrote, was released in 2012 and began a successful career in various festivals. It has also won several awards and prices.
In April, 2013, i directed his first short film entitled "LAST-DITCH“ (Original Title: Derniers Recours). This story is taken from the feature film project "BOOMERANG".
In October 2017, I won the “Fonds Podcasts Natifs Fiction France Culture – SACD” prize with my series “Probation”. Due to COVID, it was only recorded in June 2021 and put online as a podcast in December of the same year then broadcast on the air in January 2023.

“Feux De Tout Bois” is a feature film project inspired by the radio series “Probation”. This project received writing support from the CNC and is currently under development.