One Man and his Cow

Fatah Ballabes lives in a small Algerian village, where he is a simple, good-natured farmer and the butt of local jokes. His greatest pride is his cow Jacqueline, and his one ambition is to enter her in the Paris International Agriculture Fair. When an invitation finally arrives, he leaves the country for the first time, sailing to Marseille and then crossing France on foot with Jacqueline, meeting an assortment of strangers along the way while his wife Naïma waits at home.

The film is a French comedy-drama directed by Mohamed Hamidi, who wrote the screenplay with Alain-Michel Blanc and Fatsah Bouyahmed. Bouyahmed plays Fatah, with Lambert Wilson, Jamel Debbouze and Hajar Masdouki among the cast; Debbouze also produced. Released in February 2016, it runs 91 minutes and was made for a modest budget of about 5 million dollars, a scale in keeping with its gentle road-movie story. It was Hamidi's first feature, followed by Tombé du ciel in 2026.

Audience response has been consistent across platforms rather than rapturous, with the film holding a 6.7 rating on IMDb from around 3,000 votes and a 6.8 on TMDB from roughly 350 votes, a sign of steady approval from viewers who have sought it out.