FILM IN MOROCCOThe Place and the People

“What we know of foreign cultures is almost entirely communicated through the medium of popular cinema.”

Roger Ebert

AMERICAN PERCEPTIONS OF MOROCCO

FROM FILM

ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942)

CASABLANCA (1942)

FILMS MADE IN MOROCCO

THE ATLAS FILM STUDIOS

WHAT ATTRACTS WESTERN FILMMAKERS?

The Landscape The Weather The Support of the

Moroccan Government

Proximity to Western Countries

Budget-Friendly Filming Considerations

MOROCCAN FILM

THE STATE OF MOROCCAN FILM

Morocco produces about 15 major films a year

King Mohammed VI has relaxed censorship

Moroccan filmmakers can impose self-censorship

Pirated DVDs: Many Moroccan theatres have closed (100 still open)

New film school in Marrakesh

ALI ZAOUA: PRINCE OF THE STREETS

Released in 2000 A Moroccan crime

drama that tells the story of four homeless boys in Casablanca

Awarded the Bronze Horse 2000 Stockholm Film Festival and Winner of Montreal World Film Festival

NABIL AYOUCH, DIRECTOR

Born in Paris, spent formative years in Sarcelles

Trained in theatre Started film career

as a scriptwriter Early film Mektoub

(1997) was Morocco’s Academy Award entry

ALI ZAOUA: PRINCE OF THE STREETS

Paints a realistic portrait of impoverished modern Casablanca

Exposes the growing epidemic of orphaned children addicted to glue-sniffing

Uses several real homeless boys in key roles

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What scenic frames (mise-en-scene) convey the most powerful emotional landscapes of Casablanca?

What social and psychological obstacles are presented as antagonistic forces in the film’s plot?