Created while the artist was a student at Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing, Neïl Beloufa’s video Sans titre [Untitled] stages a handful of characters locked inside a luxurious Algerian villa. The gardener, housekeeper, owner, and guard gather to share their memories of the villa’s occupation by a group of terrorists. The roles are played by actors who explore the now-abandoned villa, but the voices assigned to them and the testimonies they deliver are authentic. [1] The set, however, is artificial—the villa is reconstructed in a studio from cardboard and pasted photographs, and the trompe-l’œil effect is not entirely convincing. As the narrative unfolds, the protagonists’ observations seem to transcend strict analysis. They attempt to piece together the tactics of the occupants, but these are apparently so well conceived that “it’s impossible to imagine terrorists living here,” they say. Beloufa subverts the conventions of cinematic illusion by playing with the principles of set design, sound effects, and dubbing, while simultaneously exposing the mechanisms of political fiction. In both cases, the desire to believe often outweighs an analysis based on tangible facts. This video marks an early step in an artistic approach that has since continued to assimilate and amplify the dissonances in which our societies are enmeshed.

Marilou Thiebault, 2020

Translated by Laurie Hurwitz

[1] Conversation with the artist, October 12, 2020. See also Jarrett Gregory, “Paris – Neïl Beloufa: All is Magic,” Mousse magazine, no. 31 (December 2011–January 2012): p. 167.