In 2009, Allouache wrote and directed the film "Harragas", the story of young Algerian refugees who fled their home country on small boats into the Mediterranean. The film was partly funded by the Algerian government. However, they did not like the end result and the Algerian government has subsequently boycotted Allouache’s films and refused further support. His 2011 film, "Normal!", about a filmmaker in the aftermath of the December riots, won the award for Best Film at the 2011 Doha Tribeca Film Festival.  This film was a commentary on the Algerian government’s amnesty policy for terrorists. In 2012 he directed "Le repenti" ("The Repentant"), a film about an Islamist released from prison who struggles to understand forgiveness, which was screened at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. It won a FIPRESCI Award at the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala. In 2013 "Les terrasses" ("The Rooftops") about life in Bab el-Oued, was screened at the Venice Film Festival and in 2015 "Madame courage", about a drug-user who tries to kick his habit, was screened at the Venice Film Festival. In 2016 a documentary fiction "Enquête au paradis", which combines in-person interviews with a dramatized road trip was screened at the FIPA in Biarritz (Fipa d'or) at the Berlin Film Festival, and in 2017 "Vent divin" was screened at the Toronto Film Festival.