Jamel Debbouze, Olivier Gourmet, Lubna Azabal and Hafsia Herzi star in story of “Marche des Beurs.”

Belgian filmmaker Nabil Ben Yadir (Les Barons) has begun filming on French production La Marche, featuring Jamel Debbouze, Olivier Gourmet, Lubna Azabal and Hafsia Herzi.

The script, co-wrote by Yadir with Nadia Lakhdar and Ahmed Ahmidi, is inspired by the events during the infamous “Marche des Beurs” (march of second generation North African citizens) that swept through France in December 1983 to protest against inequality and discrimination in France.

Le Marche is a co-production between France’s Chi-Fou-Mi (Hugo Selignac), France 3 and Europa Corp, and Belgium’s Entre Chien et Loup (Diana Elbaum), in co-production with Belgacom TV and with the support of the Walloon-Brussels Federation’s Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel.

It is set for a December 2013 release to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the “Marche des Beurs”.

Yadir is due to start production of his third feature-length film Annapurna, a political crime thriller starring Flemish actor Jan Decleir as an unscrupulous cop who joins an extremist political party to pursue his battle against crime. The film will be an Entre Chien et Loup majority Belgian co-production, with the support of the Centre du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel.