1 Douar, Aicha University of Oran, Algeria aicha.amine111@gmail.com Tél: 06 72 44 63 42 A PhD student and a teacher of English Title: Tin Hinen, the starting point of a civilization Abstract This article was written to participate in the World Documentary Film and TV Conference that was held in the United Kingdom in 2014. It deals with two documentary films that tell about Tin Hinen. The latter is a 4 th century legendary woman who is presumed to have been the ancestress of the Tuaregs living in the Hoggar/ Ahaggar region of Algeria. The first film, entitled Tin Hinen, was made by Ali Lacheb in 2008. It shows a man sweeping the sand with his hands as if looking for a hidden treasure. Eventually, he finds a picture of the beautiful Tin Hinen. The second film, entitled Tin Hinan, La Reine des Touaregs, was directed by Rabie Benmokhtar in 2009. In this film, the Tuaregs speak about their ancestress and witness that she really existed in ancient times. One of the speakers refers to the sociologist Ibn Khaldoun who said that the inhabitants of Hoggar were called Houaras whose ancient mother was Tizki, a lame woman. Are Tizki and Tin Hinen the same woman? Does fiction deal with Tizki, the handicapped woman? To what extend does beauty used in fiction preserve the cultural heritage of an ancient civilization? Does this legendary woman contribute in boosting tourism in the Algerian Sahara? Key words: Tin Hinen, Tuaregs, Hoggar, fiction, Tizki, beauty/ handicap, cultural heritage