My last film . . .

Μία μαύρη - όχι και τόσο ποιητική - ελεγεία πέρα από ηθικολογίες και φτηνή κοινωνιολογία για την επιβίωση και την τελική επικράτηση στο κλειστοφοβικό και άγριο κόσμο της φυλακής. Μεταξύ των ορίων πραγματικότητας και μεταφυσικής, η γεωμετρητική ανάδειξη ενός ''τίποτα'' στην πρωτοκαθεδρία της εγκληματικής ελίτ . . .  

Un prophète (2009)
  

A 2009 French prison melodrama, directed by Jacques Audiard from a screenplay he co-wrote with three others and starring Tahar Rahim in the title role of a convicted Algerian immigrant, a petty criminal who wins the respect of the prisoner boss and converts to Islam.
For Audiard, the film aims at "creating icons, images for people who don't have images in movies, like the Arabs in France,"though he also had stated that the film "has nothing to do with his vision of society," and is a work of fiction.
In 2010, the film was a nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 82nd Academy Awards.

 PLOT
Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), nineteen years old, French of Algerian descent, is sentenced to six years in prison for attacking police officers. Alone and illiterate upon his arrival, he falls under the sway of Corsican mobsters, led by Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), who enforces a brutal rule.
The prison is divided between two main factions: the Corsicans and the Muslims. Malik keeps to himself. When Luciani forces him to be the unwilling assassin of Reyeb, a Muslim witness, Malik gains the protection of the Corsicans in spite of his origin. Malik serves as a low-level servant to the Corsicans, who treat him with disdain. All the while, he is haunted by visions of the murdered Reyeb. When the bulk of the Corsicans are transferred or released, Luciani is forced to give Malik more responsibility. Having secretly learned Corsican, Malik acts as Luciani's eyes and ears in the prison. When Malik earns the privilege of day-long furloughs outside the prison, Luciani relies on him to conduct his business outside.
Ryad, a Muslim friend, teaches Malik to read and write, and the two become close. Ryad exposes Malik to his own heritage, allowing him to meet two other Muslims, Tarik and Hassan, increasing his power within the prison. Malik also becomes involved with a prison drug dealer, Jordi. When Ryad gains an early release due to his testicular cancer, the three partners organize a drug-running enterprise. But when Ryad is kidnapped by the drug dealer Latif, Malik tracks down Latif's partner inside the prison, kidnaps his family, and forces Latif's gang to release Ryad.
When Luciani discovers that Malik is using his furloughs for his own personal enterprise, he attacks him. Malik is sent to meet Brahim Lattrache in Marseille, another Muslim, who is involved in a deal between Luciani and the Lingherris, an Italian mafia group. Lattrache is bitter toward the Corsicans for the murder of Reyeb and holds Malik at gunpoint. When Malik spots a deer warning sign, he remembers a recent dream of deer running in the road. He tells his kidnappers that they are in danger of hitting a deer, which they promptly do. Lattrache is impressed by Malik, calling him a prophet and agreeing to do business with him instead of Luciani.
Luciani believes there is a mole in his organization and decides to use Malik to assassinate Jacky Marcaggi, the Don of the Corsican mafia, for secretly dealing with the Lingherris. But Malik and Ryad have their own plan for Marcaggi: they kill his bodyguards and dump him in a van with his enemy Vettori, Luciani's henchman. Malik takes refuge at Ryad's house with his wife and young son. Ryad's cancer has returned; his decision against more chemotherapy leaves him just six months and he gets Malik's promise to take care of his family when he's gone.
Upon Malik's return to the prison, he joins the Muslim side of the yard, having built a place of power within their faction. When Luciani tries to approach him, two Muslims intercept and beat him. The day of Malik's release he is met outside the prison by Ryad's wife and son. They walk off together, followed by a convoy of Malik's new gangster associates.

Directed by	Jacques Audiard
Produced by	Martine Cassinelli Antonin Dedet
Written by	Jacques Audiard Thomas Bidegain Abdel Raouf Dafri Nicolas Peufaillit
Starring	Tahar Rahim Niels Arestrup Adel Bencherif
Music by	Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography	Stéphane Fontaine
Editing by	Juliette Welfling
Distributed by	UGC Distribution
Release date(s)	16 May 2009 (Cannes) 26 August 2009 (France)
Running time	150 minutes
Country	France Italy
Language	French Arabic Corsican
Budget	€ 13 million
Box office	€ 20 243 580