From Hollywood to Tamanrasset (French: De Hollywood à Tamanrasset) is a 1991 Algerian comedy film directed by Mahmoud Zemmouri.
On the outskirts of Algiers, Algeria, the arrival of satellite dishes at the dawn of The '90s starts governing the lives of the inhabitants. Dissatisfied with their lives, they think of themselves as the protagonists of American soap operas and movies. These heroes mix in a beautiful and funny mess, with tradition and modernism, Islam and television, reality and fiction.
This film provides examples of the following tropes:
- Cosplay: Several characters dress as the fictional characters they rename themselves after, such as the Man with No Name (Clint Eastwood's Archetypal Character from the Dollars Trilogy), J.R. Ewing, Columbo and Theo Kojak (lollipop included).
- Foreign Culture Fetish: Several inhabitants of Algiers start embracing the American media satellite dishes give them access to a little too much.
- Imagine Spot: While watching Dallas, Jebraoui Rabah imagines himself as J.R. romancing Sue Ellen.
- Saw "Star Wars" Twenty-Seven Times: One guy is particularly fan of Egyptian cinema and has seen the same movie 37 times in a row.
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: Many characters start naming themselves after fictional ones from American series and films, such as JR, Sue Ellen, Rambo, Columbo, Kojak and Spock.
- Serious Business: Everyone watches Dallas quasi-religiously every night. To the point many miss the evening's prayer, which is part of one of the "Five Pillars" of Islam.
- Tagline: "When Algiers becomes Dallas... nothing works anymore!"
- Theme Initials: Jebraoui Rabah just so happens to share initials with the character he's a fan of — J.R. Ewing from Dallas.
