Keltoum’s Daughter Review

Intent on finding the mother she believes abandoned her, Cylia Malki cuts a sulkily self-possessed figure as she disdains the conventions of the Maghreb village where, as a woman, she is a second-class citizen. But director Mehdi Charef too often makes the obvious point, as Malki encounters a range of local characters who view her pretentions with either indifference or scorn. Still, his is a politically and emotionally satisfying finale that condemns the social chauvinism of North Africa with poignancy.