Death of Mehdi Charef, major figure in immigration cinema and literature

An emblematic author of immigration literature

Born October 24, 1952 in Algeria, Mehdi Charef moved to France in 1962 with his family. After working for thirteen years in the factory, he turned to writing and published his first novel in 1983,Le Thé au harem d’Archi Ahmed. This story, inspired by his experience and that of young people from immigrant backgrounds, met with a wide echo and established itself as a major work of contemporary French literature.

Le succès du « Thé au harem d’Archimède »Â

Mehdi Charef himself adapts his novel for the cinema under the title Archimedes’ Harem Tea. The film tells the daily life of two teenagers in a city in the Parisian suburbs in the 1980s. The work was praised by critics and received the Jean-Vigo prize in 1985 as well as the César for best first work in 1986. It contributes to the emergence of a unprecedented on the social realities of working-class neighborhoods.

A career between literature and cinema

Over the years, Mehdi Charef has pursued a dual career as a writer and filmmaker. Among his best-known novels areMeriem’s ​​Harki(1989) andRue des PâquerettesÂ(2019), awarded the Golden Gate literary prize. As a director, he has directed around ten films, includingMiss Mona (1986), In the land of Juliets (1991), présenté au Festival de Cannes, Marie-Line (1999) ou encore Graziella (2015). 

Homages to an artiste engagéÂ

In a press release, his family and his publishing house Hors d’reach announced his death which occurred “in his sleep” at his home in the Paris region. His relatives greeted « his immense generosity, his kindness, his poetry, his espionage and his unwavering interest in human beings». A tribute to an artist whose work had a profound impact on the representation of immigrants and the working classes in French literature and cinema.