Fan

A word about the work

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Early 2000, Lower Kabylie, a street football scene in Aguemoune Ath Slimane, home to the Zidane family. It is where his father and ancestors were born and grew up. It is where the champion, who was born in Marseille in France, spent his holidays.

At the beginning of the 2000s, journalists and photographers had to show their credentials to stand a chance of getting into Algeria. The fact that we were working on Zinedine Zidane’s background opened doors for us. The civil war was just ending but, even so, we were escorted everywhere we went. I have great memories of making this feature. We were made to feel very welcome and the fact that we were working on the local boy helped a lot. It was a real door-opener. Zidane’s uncle, who had come back to Algeria to live, was our guide getting to this village. The setting is magnificent.

Jean-Denis’s choice

It’s always an emotional moment to discover and contemplate where an icon comes from. This world is so far removed from what Zidane was to become, from what he already was at this time. Even though the immense champion wasn’t born in this village in the middle of nowhere (he was born in Marseille), this is where his family’s heart beats, and where his personal story takes root. In one shot, the place where it all started.