Faouzi Bensaidi, Death for Sale

Having won awards for his short films, writer-director and actor Faouzi Bensaidi is a familiar face at the Cannes, Venice and Berlin film festivals. Recently, at the 62nd Berlinale, Bensaidi expressed hope that Death for Sale, his Moroccan noir--that evokes classics like Kubrick's The Killing, Huston's The Asphalt Jungle and Welles's Touch of Evil--will cross the Atlantic and be seen theatrically in the U.S. Death revolves around a trio of young men, best friends and petty thieves, whose plans for a jewelry store robbery glaringly and violently reveals their differences. Bensaidi is both amusing and scary as the perpetually drunk police inspector who pressures one of the youths to become an informer.

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