Athmane Ariouet

• Name — Athmane Ariouet • Native Name — عثمان عريوات • Birthplace — Amdoukal, Algeria • Years Active — 1963–2004 • Occupation — Actor

Ariouet was born in Amdoukal in Barika, in the wilaya of Batna. As a schoolboy, he wished to become a great actor. He unanimously won the first prize for diction in French. Later, his acting credibility was encouraged by the French teacher Henri Vangret. He then studied Arabic theatre along with prominent actors Mustapha Kasdarli, Taha Laâmiri, and Allal Mouhib. He first attended the Algiers Conservatory from 1969 to 1972.

Considered as one of the best and most distinguished character actors in Algerian cinema, Ariouet has been awarded multiple times in a career spanned for more than five decades. His debut acting role was in the 1963 film Le Résultat. In 1981, he acted in the television film The Executioner Cries directed by Abder Isker. His 1994 cult film Carnaval Fi Dechra, considered as the most relentless caricature of a political system adrift. The film, directed by Mohamed Oukassi, is acomedy film which depicts Algerian society with derision. He was banned from acting after the film. In 2002, he returned to cinema acting with the film El Arch under the presidential permission. In December 2003, he released his debut (as director? producer?) film Er-roubla, co-produced with ENTV. In 2004, he retired from acting after the film Chronique des années pub, in which he encountered financial difficulties as well as theatrical release ban. However, in 2017 at the forum of the daily El Moudjahid, former Minister of Culture Azzedine Mihoubi said that "the film was in the editing phase", and it was finally released in 2018.

• Year — Film — Roles — Ref. • 1963 — Le Résultat • 1967 — Molière's miser • 1969 — The Sorcerer • 1969 — By You and For You • 1971 — Archam • 1972 — Sketch the Living Dead • 1973 — Chaàbia • 1973 — Negligence • 1976 — The Uprooted • 1976 — The Rifles of Mother Karar • 1976 — Blessed Hendel • 1978 — The Cat • 1983 — The Epic of Cheïkh Bouamama • 1985 — Buamama — Cheikh Bouamama • 1988 — The Village Doctor • 1989 — The Choice • 1989 — La Rose des sables • 1989 — Le Clandestin — Mahfoud • 1991 — From Hollywood to Tamanrasset • 1992 — Le Pain • 1992 — Family Like the Others of Ameur Tribèche • 1992 — Two Women • 1994 — Carnival fi Dachra — Makhlouf Bombardier • 2002 — El Arch • 2003 — Er-roubla • 2004 — Chronicle of The Pub Years