March 2012

Issue N 1

International Cinematic E-Magazine

INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC

Maghrebi Cinema: What Future ?

Contact us: c.cinematic@gmail.com

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International Cinematic E-Magazine

1. Movies in Morocco Through History
2. Interview: A Note on Moroccan
Cinema with Ait Omar Mokhtar 3. Cinematic texts: Entertainment or
Containment ? 4. Women Representation in LOrange
Amre and Ex-Chamkar Films ICM

5. Interview: Mohamed BENAZIZ

6. A Critical Eye On SAFAIH MIN
DHAHAB 7. A critical Analysis on Androman: I am woMAN 8. Commentary on Az Larab Allaouis
Izorane 9.
interview: Az Larab Alaoui 10. Les Mains Rudes: Discourses of
Moroccan-ness 11. Boredom and Childhood in Moroccan Cinema 12. LES OUBLIES A Real world Hidden Behind a Crystal Glass 13.The Absence of Communication between Sexes in Morocco 14. Interview: Abdeltif AMAJGAG 15. Immigrants Retirement Period: Where to Go ?
ICM

Cinema is the mirror of each society and then studying cinemas of different countries and continents means having a window on different cultures and civilizations. International Cinematic E-Magazine is run by a group of student researchers over the world interested in the eld of cinema. This E-Magazine is open to all the world cinemas and schools. Each Newsletter will be dedicated to a particular cinema. This rst issue places focus on the Maghrebin cinema. Subsuquent issues will be devoted to other cinemas, like the European, the Asian, the American, etc. The objectives are to write about lms and keep on fruitful discussions on it. We will organize seminars, meetings, etc. Different national and international Festivals shall be covered. New lms will be reviewed as well. New contributors and commentators are invited to have their say on this magazine columns.

participants in this iss

We do thank very mu

to have more in the ne

ch all ue and hope xt issue.

Do not hesitate to wr ite us on: c.cinematic@gmail.c om

Warm regards,

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FOREWORD: INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE!

Thinking Globally about Filmmaking

Dr. Laura Hills President, Blue Pencil Institute Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Inte rnat ion E-M al Cine agaz mat ic ine
LHills@bluepencilinstitute.com

Like it or not, we have been conditioned to think of lm through a nationalistic lens. Most of us classify the lms we see into two basic categories: lms that are from our own country, and lms that are from foreign countries. Awards ceremonies such as the Academy Awards in the United States or the Csar Awards in France in fact make this distinction. Is it our lm? Is it a foreign lm? We dene a category, put a lm into it, and keep it there. However, our comfortable and familiar nationalistic lines become blurred when we experience lms that are created through international collaborations. Take for instance The Artist, the highly-acclaimed and award-winning modern-era silent lm of 2011. The Artist was made in the United States. Filming took place during seven weeks on location in Los Angeles, California. And indeed, some of the members of the cast and crew were Americans. To many lm lovers, this would suggest that The Artist is an American lm. However, The Artist starred French actor Jean Dujardin and Argentine-French actress Brnice Bejo. It was directed by French lm director Michel Hazanavicius. Its music

was composed by French composer Ludovic Bource. And some of the additional actors and members of the crew were French. So, is The Artist a French lm? Well, the answer will depend upon who you ask. As you read International Cinematic Magazine, and as you continue to study lm, be mindful that many hands go into lm-making and that our lms often draw c a s t a n d c r e w m e m b e r s f ro m a n international pool of talent. That means that we need to be a little less rigid in our nationalistic thinking and a lot more open to the idea of a global cinema. Whether a cast or crew member, composer, director, producer, or screenwriter comes from your country or from mine, what matters to lm lovers like us is the quality of what we experience on the screen. If The Artist is an example of what can happen when we have international collaboration in lmmaking, then lets hope we see many more such collaborations across our borders and shores. It is wonderfully exciting to see diverse people come together from different lands, languages, and cultures to create a lm.

Dr. Laura Hills is the

president of Blue Pencil Institute and serves as the Research Fellow for Academic Development at Virginia International University in Fairfax, Virginia, USA. Dr. Hills invites you to follow her on Twitter @DrLauraHills, to become a fan of company on Facebook at Blue Pencil Institute, and to visit the Blue Pencil Institute website at www.bluepencilinstitute. com.

International Cinematic E-Magazine, | c.cinematic@gmail.com

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International Cinematic E-Magazine

Mohamed BELBACHA E-mail: med-belbach@hotmail.com

Movies in Morocco Through History

Many researchers agree that there was no Moroccan cinema as such during the French colonization of Morocco. But, in fact, there was rather cinema in Morocco or, better to say, Colonial Cinema. This cinema unquestionably employed the Moroccan space as an exotic decoration to attract the European audience and satisfy their weird curiosities and even exploited the indigenous actors by restricting their participation in mere secondary degrading roles. This strategy was certainly advocated at a large scale with a view to embellishing the colonizers image and sustaining the propagation of their traditional portrayal as the only ones in charge of exporting the virtues of civilization and development to the dark world corners. In a word, cinema was conceived as a direct efcient tool at the hand of the French colonial enterprise. In this connection, if we read Morocco witnessed the appearance of a number of international important movies such as The Seventh Door by Orson Welles (1949), Othello by Jack Baker (1954), Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves by Alfred Hitchcock (1955), and The Man Who Knew Too Much by Alfred Hitchcock (1956). the famous book History of Cinema in Morocco - Colonial Cinema by Moulay Driss Jaidi, we will assuredly notice that the cinematic production in Morocco went through different principal phases, each with its own specic properties. As for the rst phase, starting from 1896 to 1919, there were Frres lumire who shot a number of short lms in Morocco in 1896. Still more, in 1919, Felix Mesguich lmed the French violence in connection with imposing the protectorate on the original inhabitants. In 1939 in Casablanca, the rst lm plant Cinephane was built whereas in 1944 in Rabat, Souissi Studio was established. Moreover, the well-known Moroccan Cinema Centre was founded. In 1953, the state issued the Cinema Journal in cooperation with the French corporation Newsreels. In the aftermath of World War II,

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2009
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Though Morocco won independence in 1956, it was only until the passage of twelve years since then that new narrative movies produced by Moroccan directors as well as the Moroccan Cinema Centre started to come into play. Thus, the rst long movie which appeared then was Life is Struggle by M o h a m e d Ta z i a n d A h m e d E l Mesnaoui, immediately followed by When Palm Trees Bear Fruit by Abdelaziz Ramdani and Larbi Bennani. In fact, these two lms were not categorically different from the French ones, as they lived up to the same roles and topics assigned by the French to cinema in Morocco. In the seventies, two Moroccan

the production of new movies in escalating numbers. In this respect, new Moroccan directors, whose lms constituted 50% of the overall production during the time, appeared such as Mohamed Reggab with his single lm Poor Neighbourhoods Hairdresser in 1982, a lm which won him the acclaim and admiration of the Moroccan audience. Also, Mostafa Derkaoui made a lm in 1982 called Shahrazads Nice Days and A Provisional Address in 1984. While Ahmed Tachne directed a lm called Nightmare in 1984, Ahmed Kasim Akdri succeeded in producing two spectacular lms during this era: The Crisis of Forty Thousand People in 1984 and The Outcome of Winds in 1985. This era was also marked with the appearance of female directors such as Farida Belyazid who produced the lm Heavens Door is Open in 1988. The nineties came also to

decade of the third millennium in Morocco. Indeed, in this decade, the production of movies increased from 5 movies a year to 18, including short lms. In 2000, Abdelmajid Rchich presented a movie under the title the story of a Flower. Subsequently, many impressive movies were shot such as A Thousand Months by Faouzi Bensaidi, The Return of the Soul by Daoud Ouled Sayyid, Dark Room by Hassan Benjelloun, and the most recent one Rough Hands by Mohamed laasli. To conclude, this paper is only

an attempt at dig ging into the emergence and development of cinema in pre- and post-independence Morocco. We selectively and steadily tried to open a small window through history on the seventh art in Morocco. Needless to say, that Moroccan cinema has no long life behind to recount, but at the same time we cannot deny that it has remarkably emerged from the rst years of darkness. Needless also to say that there is still more to do ahead in order to establish a real cinematic industry in the country.

directors, Abdellah Mesbahi and Souhail Ben Baraka, managed to make three different long movies. In his rst lm, Silence, Forbidden Direction (1973), Mesbahi followed the example of Egyptian melodrama lms. In 1974, he produced a commercial lm under the title Tomorrow Earth Wont Change while in 1976, he came up with Green light. As for Ben Baraka, an Italian cinema school graduate and assistant to many world directors at the time, he shot the following lms: A Thousand Hand and Hand (1972), Oil War Wont Happen (1974), and Blood Wedding (1977). In the eighties, the Moroccan

increase the movie production in Morocco. Ben Barka presented a historical movie called Glory Horsemen in 1991 whereas Jilali Farhati presented Lost Childrens Beach at the same year. Abdelkader Laktaa, in his turn, made two movies A love story in Casablanca in 1990 and The closed Door in 1994. In 1997, Said Souda attracted the attention and interest of many cinema-goers by his prominent lm From Paradise to Hell.

government set up a particular system for funding movie production, a progressive step which largely stimulated

In the nal phase, not

mentioned in the above book, many other movies saw the light in the rst

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A Note On Moroccan Cinema

we can mention some directors such as who were able to produce a cinematic Ahmed Boulan in Ali Rabiaa and the artwork that have had an outstanding Others, " !"# $%&'' ' ' ' ( " /. ' ' ' ''-+ ' ' ' ''* in 2000, echo in many international festivals. In Kamal Kamal in The Ghost of Nizar " all, we can say for sure that around 300 1&'' ' ' '2 " + ' ' ''3in 2001, as well as Dawood long movies were produced between (David) Awlad Alsayid in his Film Wind 1968 and 2012, given that 1968 was the Horse " " 7' ' ' ' ' ''-65 # ' ' ' ' ''*in 2003, Fawzi real start for the Moroccan Movie. It was Mohamed Tazi and Ahmed Bensaidi in A Thousand Months "89'' ' '7 -'' ' ':; Almasnawi's lm Life is Struggle " ' ' ' ' ' '9 ''@R ", and Hakim Belaabbas in The Thread '&''@G' ' ' ' ' ' 7 " that inaugurated this process. of the Soul <'' &' ' ' ' ' ' . . " 7' ' ' ' ' ''-Narjisse These data, if anything, prove that the Alnajjar marked a strong presence with Moroccan lm production is on the her remarkable work The Dry Eyes " right path, compared to the Maghreb @?' ''$ 7' ''%&*A'' '7 " in 2004, We got to know and African ones. One point more, the Noureddine Lakhmari in his movie A cinema-goer will notice that the Look " ' ' ''-C' ' ' ' ' ' + " in 2005. Leila Moroccan lm has addressed various Almorrakchi produced her lm issues, among them women, family,

Whats

the current status of Moroccan cinema ? A hard question to answer without being aware of every aspect embedded in the question and the range of varied views that can ignite. In fact, the lm critic would express his own vision while the

director or producer would advance an ''Marock'' " ' ' ' ' ' ''@E " which has sparked a migration, and political issues during opposite view. The lm distributor and the cinema owner would also follow huge controversy. The rate of the the lead years. suit. The question then can be production of Moroccan Films has cautiously answered by asking a new kept increasing due to the nancial one: Is the Moroccan Film Alright ? I support of some companies. Thus, the would say : Yes, because by January, creative standards have been improving. 2012 we have produced 23 new long Meanwhile, more other movies have movies that were presented in the appeared such as Aziz Elsalmi's Film ofcial competition of the 13th national The Veil of Love" FG'' '7@ A'' 'I " in 2008, festival. This number comes as an Edriss Shouika's lm Gone Are the Days addition to the production of more " J'K'&' ' ' ' ' ' ? 8'' ' ' ' ' 'E@'&' ' ' ' ' ' 7 ", Mohamad Elsherief than 60 short movies. The average Altribak's lm Fellow Mates " -?'@K'E37," viewer cannot help but deduce that Salma Berkash's Film The Fifth String " these numbers are positive indicators. -'' ' M*'' '7 N'' ' E@O'' ' 7, " Mohamed Moftakir's The lm production has thus witnessed Film Borak "-P'' ' ' ' ' '7 " and last but not an increasing pace during the last least, Mohamed Alaasri's lm The decade . As such, the Moroccan Film End "$'' ' ' ':@6K'' ' ' '7 .'' All these names have has gained a disinguished position in a pointedly appeared in the last 10 myriad of international festivals years. Some of them were producing throughout the globe and has also won and directing more than a lm important awards in various cinematic specialities and occupations. This during the period. We can also mention here some migrant directors accumulation has given birth to a new such as : Yasmin Kusari, Hassan generation of actors, directors and Lakzuli, Ismail Faroukhi, and others photography staff. By way of example,

President of the cinemati c national clubs in Morocco from 19 83 to 1991. The General Secretary of the Film Critics in Morocco. Th e Director of Short Film Speu FestivalKenitra..

AT OMAR MUKHTAR

Ayoub BELGHARBI

TRANSLATED:

Mohamed BELBACHA

PROOFREADER:

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CINEMATIC TEXTS: ENTERTAINMENT

OR CONTAINMENT ?
I can never romanticize language again never deny its power for disguise for mystication but the same could be said for music or any form created painted ceilings beaten gold worm-worn Piets reorganizing victimization frescoes translating violence into patterns so powerful and pure we continually fail to ask are they true for us. Adrienne Rich, A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far

Mohammed Zeriouh
e-mail:
zeriouhmohammed@yahoo.com

CINEMATIC TEXTS: ENTERTAINMENT OR CONTAINMENT ?

Literature, that is considered to be the art of written works, is still often approached as the truest, most profound indicator of the nations culture and character . . .1 (Sabina 2) as David Carter prefer s to put it. Considering literary and cinematic texts to be emanating from a societys high culture according to the categorization of Mathew Arnolds Culture and Anarchy and T.S. Eliots Notes towards the Denition of Culture, renders literature the product of a cultures elite. If culture is partly sets of beliefs or values that give meaning to ways of life and produce (and are reproduced through) material and symbolic form2 (2) according to Mike Crangs Cultural Geography, then a cultures literary and cinematic products create, either consciously or unconsciously, overtly or covertly, meanings and frameworks from which its recipients experience and interpret its subject matter. In this realm, a cinematic textbe it a lm, an experimental lm, a documentary, an animated cartoon or whatsoever - is an outright form of creation, meaning creation in the rst lieu. Not to participate in this discourse [creation] is to decline power, to court oppression as Denis Cosgove and Mona Domosh would argue in Author and Authority3 (37). Consider a lm and see how it is mostly held as a construct that informs and entertains more than as a form that re-forms and contains. It follows to include that the masses perception of photographic, audio-visual and lmic media make believe that these are transparent, mechanical, indexical recordings and reductions of reality rather than mediations of a selection.

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Michel Foucault blatantly announces in the The Archeology of Knowledge that the manifest discourse is . . . no more than the repressive presence of what it does not say4 (25). In a cinematic text, recurrence of items rather than others makes up their prominence and eminence, importance and salience. Put differently, the recurrence of a cinematic article usually shapes a mindset holding it as a given, a xity. Cinematic discourses do not form mimesis, yet they can highly spur catharsis. Meaning passes through the latter at the level of the unconscious. It is there but repressed, latent and dormant. A counter discourse can amazingly make them open up and speak louder. Thus we must reconstitute another discourse, rediscover the silent murmuring, the inexhaustible speech that animates from within the voice that one hears5 (Foucault 27). Accordingly, cinematic texts do narrate, translate, but also dictate. They tell and reect lives but they enclose us in a system of thought made of virtual relationships between peoples, items, and places. All sciences agree that we do not live in a vacuum and that we live amidst relationships to others which dene who we are. We live in a set of relationships that dene positions6 as Foucaults Of Other Spaces puts it. In this respect, cinema builds malleable relationships. It can make the familiar outstandingly outlandish and the outlandish astonishingly familiar. It can also render the trivial highly central and the central terrically trivial. It follows to note that motion picture demarcates the connes of thought and contains it in the box of the given. It can even form new thinking patterns. A proverb in Arabic- attributed to the Muslim caliph Omar Ibn Alkhattab- goes, Man is the enemy of what he does not know.7 It has scientically been proven that being ignorant of a matter creates suspicion and distance from it. Being familiar with another creates the reverse. In this respect, cinema can create easily familiarity or estrangement through the set of relationships it is able to establish. Cinematic texts are playing, in a more powerful mode, now the role that literary texts played in the past. In the English Renaissance literature, colonial Britain dened stereotypically its own relations to the rest of the world. In literature then, it attributed qualities it did not wish for itself to people within the borders of its empire or any would-be colonized beyond them. The Turk was cruel and tyrannical, deviant, and deceiving; the Moor was sexually overdriven and emotionally uncontrollable, vengeful, and religiously superstitious. The Muslim was all that an Englishman and Christian was not: he was the Other with whom there could only be holy war8 (Matar 13). The recurrence of those descriptions in its literary productions shaped an unnatural image about the rest of the world. This way [t]he Orient [became] a pretext for self-dramatisation and differentness; it is the malleable theoretical space in which can be played out the egocentric fantasies of Romanticism9 (Kabbani 11). This practice still shows up today in a way or another in a big number of American lms for instance: the Muslim character is usually the terrorist and the American Christian white man is so the freedom ghter. Hence, cinemas ability to form thinking patterns -although there are only empirical and hardly any scientic results in gures about the degree of inuence it exerts- creates texts that attribute meanings to the relationships we build, even with ourselves. Like the case of the literary text, the cinematic text can entertain as well as contain thought especially that the visual reaches faster than the written. A longer article may provide me with more room for details next.
Works Cited Arnold, Mathew. Culture and Anarchy: Rethinking the Western Tradition. Eds. Samual Lipman et al. US: Yale UP: 1994. Cosgrove, Denis and Domosh, Mona. Author and Authority: Writing the New Cultural Geography. Place, Culture. Representation. Eds. James Dunan & David Ley. London: Routledge, 1993. Crang, Mike. Cultural Geography. New York: Routledge, 1999. Foucault, Michel. The Archeology of Knowledge. London: Routledge, 1994. --- "Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias". Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory Ed. Neil Leach. NYC: Routledge. 1997. <http://www.vizkult.org/propositions/alineinnature/pdfs/Foucault-OfOtherSpaces1967.pdf>. Hussain, Sabina. Label and Literature: Borders and Spaces in PostColonial Migrant Literature in Australia. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. 3. 2004. P 104. 29 Sep 2010 < http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index. php/jasal/article/ viewArticle/38>

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Women Representation in Lorange Amre and Ex-Chamkar Films

International Cinematic E-Magazine

dominance is due to her illiteracy. Bouchra which might facilitate her mission and Ijork is not to be blamed for picturing which may make the man be hers for good. Saidia, who might be a crystal reection of The fact of opting for sorcery or, of Moroccan women, in this very conventional thinking of using magic is in itself a clear manner. Arguably, illiteracy is a very a d m i s s i o n o f w o m e ns i g n o r a n c e, confusing reality that most Moroccans are s t a g n a t i o n , a n d a n u n r e e c t i v e obliged to adjust themselves with. Thus, it subordination to untrue practices and can be said that Lbortokala Lmorra occurrences in a society that keeps fuelling
Ahlam LAMJAHDI E-mail: ahlam.lamjahdi@gmail.com

unravels, to a debatable extent, the inequality and injustice between the two components of a society that is profoundly sexes. traditional, a society that is, obviously, unable to gloss over the remnants of the old traditional conservative mentalities which potently cherish male dominance, and which remorselessly regard women as mere accessories. Ex- Shamkar is a steamy Moroccan movie written and directed by Mahmoud Frites. The comparison between Lbortokala Lmorra and Ex-Shamkar might give us a feeling that Bouchra Ijork and Mahmoud Frites belong to two different worlds. Ijorks movie opens

Lbortokala Lmorra or the The bitter orange is a Moroccan movie directed by Bouchra Ijork . The story revolves around Saidia, an ordinary young illiterate woman who nds herself unconditionally in love with Amin. The latter remains unaware of her love, and her plots to make him fall for

Ijorks heroine recurrently takes sorcery the door of a world that is humble and

her. Seemingly, the lm is a romantic as her absolute refuge. Her rst step towards dreamy; it is apparently a world in which adventure that takes its heroine Saidia to a her dreams is, ironically, made through people do possess certain ethics, do respect world that is full of diverse possibilities and witchcraft. The latter is, as it seems, tackled the teachings of their religion, and do consequences. Still, what strikes us the most in the movie as an ordinary act that a maintain the chains made by society. By is not the dreamy love story between Amin woman should go through to achieve her contrast, Frites takes us to a different realm and Saidia , but the way Saidia as a woman, goals, that is, supposedly, done through that is characterized by greed, lust, and as a Moroccan woman, is represented, adopting the easiest ways. The comfort, passion. Ex-Shamkar narrates the story of a drawn, and viewed in the movie. which is highly touched in the way Saidia group of homeless friends who suddenly Saidia is, as mentioned above, an illiterate woman with very humble ambitions and aspirations. She is, apparently, a woman who has chosen to besiege herself within the traditional dreams of having a husband and a family. Her very limited qualications have made her able to surrender everything to make her legal dream come true. The fact that Saidia is represented as an illiterate woman is unsurprisingly revealing. It might be said that, her subservience, and her unconditioned acce ptance of male deals with this whole idea of sorcery, taste the sweetness of a funky life thanks to remains a bitter portion in our society just the hero of the lm Rowayes who becomes as bitter as the orange might be for Saidia in a rich man, and who decides to change the her love journey. In a nutshell, Ijorks subtle bitter reality of his ex friends as well. The inclusion of sorcery, which might look journey from homelessness to richness perfunctory for some, is in fact a very telling makes the viewer experience a variety of action that represents the Moroccan society feelings due to pleasant and unpleasant with its undeniable bitterness, ignorance, actions in which women take part in a very and cruelty. The smooth use of witchcraft in debatable way. the movie is probably a reection of its smooth use in reality as well. The rst thing that has come to Saidias mind to win Amins heart is the use of some magic

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The representation of women in Ex- accepts the intrusion of several realities. In Shamkar is shocking to an extreme extent. A other words, Ijorks and Fritess worlds might woman is, obviously, a mere object to satisfy seem contradictory at the rst glimpse, but a males thirst to sex. She is, the woman, a profound look will assuredly unravel the

ICM

happy entity simply for being physically and commonness between the two; they, sexually satised. To be stated clearly, the consciously or unconsciously, represent the sexual satisfaction in Ex- Shamkar seems to be bitter reality of women in Morocco. Still, it males ultimate goal that is repeatedly may look nave to take what is represented in achieved through womens recur rent the two movies as a real reection of womens availability. An availability that is always situation in the Moroccan society. assured thanks to Rowayes money. Objectifying women in Frites movie remains a very disturbing fact that a viewer must deal with. Still, it would not be wise to deny Frites successfulness in accurately representing males and females greed and lust in a society that is supposedly a Muslim one. To what extent can we convincingly say that Ijorks classical love story is a part of a Moroccans woman life? Isnt Saidias unconditioned subservience marked by a childish innocence? To what extent can Frites movie be taken as a real representation of women in Morocco as well? Isnt the two

If Saidia in Lbortokala Lmorra is a humble realities represented by Ijork and Frites woman who enjoys certain ethics, women in decient to a widely noticeable extent?! The Ex-Shamkar seem to enjoy many attributes two movies do apparently represent two highly except ethics. Frites prefers to represent his different realities of one society. Ijork prefers

female characters as greedy, lascivious, and to touch the wounds of weakness, illiteracy, fun-oriented beings who keep confronting and ignorance, whereas Frites prefers to take society with its desirable and undesirable us to the other hidden faade of women in chains. It would not be necessary to ask about which lust and greed can no more be taken as the possibility of proving that Frites is tensely offence but as clear headlines of a life that is wrong in giving such attributes to Moroccan bitter and cruel. women. The Moroccan reality, ironically,

Bouchra IJORK, actress , culumunist and Morocan lm director. IJORK was born in 1976 in CAsablanca.

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L C I N E M AT I C

INTERVIEW
atic international Cinem

is

ter view In

AZIZ MOHAMED BEN

...Bad Deeds are Humans Productions, not movies . M. Benaziz

ICM: Thank you Mr. Benaziz for

having accepted our invitation, and for your sincere encouragement for the Moroccan youth to work in the eld of cinema. As we actually know your big interest in Moroccan cinema, lets start with this question: What is the current situation of Moroccan cinema?

signs compared with other Maghrebin cinemas ? Answering this question lies in comparing two situations; while one relates to what the case was in the past, the other concerns what it should be in the present. This comparison leads to two different perspectives in reading the past and the present of the Moroccan cinema. For the realists, Moroccan cinema is in a continual development and reaches national/international festivals, and it occupies, c o n s t a n t l y, a n i m p o r t a n t position in the media, and thus are satised with the current situation: The number of lms

is a very compelling proof, if we compare, for instance, the Moroccan cinema between 1990 and 2011. On the contrary, there are some other whose views are idealists based in the sense that the model they wanted has not come into existence. Of these two perspectives, some attack what has been achieved for technical reasons and others advance their critical view on moral g rounds. From thes e two vantages the assessment starts. I belong to the rst team, and I consider that the Moroccan cinema is on the right path.

Mr. Benaziz: The Moroccan cinema is still young, and has not got older yet. So, it is not only in a good health, but it is also enduring a rush phase; it may fall, but it rises and pursues its journey.

ICM: Can we say that Moroccan cinema is under a developmental state? Do you see any positive

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ICM: Do you predict ,Mr. Benaziz, the decrease of the hot shots with the arrival of Mr. Khal at the head of the Ministry of Communication and Media, or is the case that , due to the intransigence of some directors as well as hot shots which are believed to be an integral part of their lms raw materials, no change can be expected to that effect? In addition to this, do you see that Moroccan cinema is inuencing and getting inuenced by its environment, or is it that the lms themes do not meet the audience interests ? Mr. Benaziz: We have to agree on the following: bad deeds are humans productions, not movies. This is clear and cannot be reversed. If directors shot marital indelity, this is because prophet Dauad did it with one his soldiers wives, after he sent him in the forefront of the army to die. The same had been done with Zulekha Aziz wife when she fell in love with prophet Yussef. After this short reminder, I go back to recall what will happen after the victory of the Islamists in the elections? I think that the hot shots will be decreased. Directors will be trained on selfcensorship to adapt to the logos of chastity. In my view, it will push toward artistic condensation. This will raise the l e ve l o f M o ro c c a n l m s. T h i s experience has passed with the Iranian cinema after the Islamic Revolution. Censorship incite creativity much more than when everything is permissible.

express as much as images and sounds can do ?

Thirdly, to conrm that it is possible to lm new scenarios that go beyond consumed topics, such as sex and the naked street, to deep matters that touch upon the whole social life of the Moroccans. The fourth reason is to show that these events are the expression of a prevailing mode of thinking that must be highlighted to be dismantled. Broken Heart gave the oor to those whom I do not agree with. I pushed their logic to its high limits to explode and unfold.

Mr. Benaziz: Through my reading of books about cinema and watching movies writing about them, I came to conclusions which would be of no importance if written. They had to be experienced instead as they t the camera rather than the pen. I have worked systematically to recongure myself every ve years

ICM: In the same context, in your lm Broken Heart, it was the rst time you have interlaces images with sounds to produce this lm that touches on one of the most prominent topics in the contemporary history of Morocco, the terrorist events of 16 May. Why was this choice ? Mr. Benaziz: For four reasons: The rst one is the fact that May 16, 2003 bombings were taken heavily up in the political, media and religious arenas, but not addressed by the camera. This choice was dictated by the need to get the history of Morocco into the snapshot, to take a historical dimension. This is a political reason. The second reason, which is artistic, is that it is easy to give a story an output, when the content of the story is easy to be narrated. It is useful to work on telling stories on topics involving a large audience. This reduces the need to explain the large context of the story. The director can express, easily, his point of view when the context is clear to the spectators. Mr. Benaziz: I certainly do; rstly, because it receives everyday more than six million students and, secondly, because it is the heart of society; it interacts with its surrounding and works in connection with it. As far as my movie is concerned, it is an adaptation of a short story I wrote in the same week when the events of May 16, 2003 took place. ICM: That's true. For example, different mentalities exist in a single classroom; there are students who are conservative while others are not. This reects the symbiosis of ideologies and beliefs that occur in society as a whole. Hence, the instructor and school play a pivotal role in the preparation of a platform that would accept all differences. In this sense, does Mr. Benaziz believe in the role of the Moroccan school?

ICM: We know that Benaziz has worked with words to voice his ideas, and his face is familiar in many national newspapers. What is the secret of moving from expressing in words into expressing in images and sound? Did not word help to

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ICM: You have recently made two interesting lms: Salt of Love and The Dream for Hamburger. Are you going to stress the same values- which we have evoked- in your upcoming movies? Mr. Benaziz: Though my lms are the touchstone of myself, there always exists a certain idiosyncratic continuity which stems from the viewpoint I adopt and from the path I have been following. I consider myself a short story writer; all the three movies I have made so far have the structure of a short story. That structure unies their form. The difference lies in the focus; in each movie I focus on a certain element. For example, in A Broken Heart, I examine the thesis and its anti-thesis by means of arguing. In the two last movies, arguing is done through sequences and focus is put on sequencing and the camera movements.

ICM :You wrote on your facebook page the following: "Twenty hours before the casting of the second and third movie, I feel a queer quietude dominating me. I read some passages from Kalila wa Dimna to feel the process of narration in it. I also read from Al Mutanabbi's Diwan (as footnoted by Al Akiri) in order to sense the power of poetic imagery...." After the casting is over, do you think that these touches of literature are present in your last works? And will you describe your experience? Mr. Benaziz: The judgment whether the literary touches exist or not is left to the viewers. As for the experience, it was enjoyable and different from the rst one. In the rst movie, it was dialogue which determined the sequencing of events. Conversely, in the two last movies, dialogue was reduced to the minimum and the event controlled the camera angles and movement. I also discovered that the crew I chose from high school have improved throughout the twenty

literature, lms and the methods of directors...there should also be discussions on cinematic issues. There is a long, hard way which needs patience and training if one wants to have a cinephile. Magazines are the keys to making that cinephile. Currently, only one cinematic magazine is published in Morocco entitled Cinemag which, despite nancial constraints, follows the news of Moroccan cinematic issues. ICM: Thank you very much Mr. Benaziz for your time.

ICM: According to you, what do the titles of the last movies mean? Mr. Benaziz: Well, I prefer not to give any explanation to my works since that would be the only ofcial reading. So, I tell the story using my camera and give the viewer the freedom to interpret it.

months between A Broken Heart and the two other movies.

ICM: How do you perceive the lately published cinematic magazines, and how do you think they can raise people's interest in the 7th Art? Mr. Benaziz: There is no cinema without a high level of cinematic culture. One should rst know about

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March 2012

Cinema under Dictatorship

A CRITICAL EYE ON SAFAIH MIN DHAHAB

OR GOLDEN HORSESHOES
Art is often a reection of what nd it hard to survive after their sentence happens in reality. In many cases, it is over. They feel unable to catch up with a provides keys for reection and opens totally different world; a world different in doors for change. Tunisian cinema is no pace and full of change. Furthermore,

exception as illustrated by the 1989 drama most of them discover that their closest movie "Safa'ih min dhahab" which draws people are no longer that close and their the viewer's attention to the Tunisian offspring exposed to delinquency in their political life of that time and to the absence. The second element is about situations of prisoners when out of gaol. oppression in Ben Ali's era. In this respect, By way of synopsis, Nouri Bouzid's movie the movie is laden with scenes of revolves around a 45 years old intellectual oppression inicted by the Tunisian

called Youssef, who spent six years in regime on those who jeopardised its prison for his political zeal which had been existence. As indicated in the movie, the inamed by the revolutionary waves in the prisoners of opinion were not only sixties. His disappointment by his deprived of freedom of movement but comrades, his dissatisfaction with his also from pens and papers. The latter c h i l d r e n ' s b e h a v i o u r, a n d h i s were believed to be as threatening to the disconnection with his wife rendered his regime as weapons. Hence, instead of post-prison life unbearable, and made him being a space for rehabilitation and n o l o n g e r b e l i e ve i n h i s l e f t i s t , reinsertion in society, prison was used for revolutionary ideas. His end was as tragic interrogation and disciplining. as that of the horse he used to see in his In a nutshell, "Safa'ih min dhahab" is an example of the very little daring daydreams. There are two focal elements to be Tunisian pieces of art which were lmed mentioned in relation to this movie's story. in a delicate period and which indirectly The rst element is that most prisoners foreshadowed the inevitable fall of the long-living Ben Ali regime.
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ABDELHAFID JABRI E-mail:jabriprof2006@yahoo.co.uk

I am a woMAN
Az Larabe Alaouis ANDROMAN was displayed during Oujda Film Fest 2012. Saad Alami saw the lm and wrote this review on it.

In te rn at io

n al C in em at ic E -M ag c. ci n em at az in e ic @ g m ai l. co m

March 2012

Issue N 1

SAAD ALAMI MERROUNI: saad_alami113@hotmail.com

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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

It is a great feeling when you are one among few privileged persons to watch one of the rst projections of a movie in a whole country. Thats my s t o r y w i t h A N D RO M A N , a Moroccan movie directed by AZ LARABE ALAOUI LAMHARZI, and today I would like to share it with you. On March the 1st, the city of Oujda gave birth to the rst Moroccan Short Films Festival, an open space of competing for all national short movies directors, and an opportunity to discover new talented directors. ANDROMAN the movie was projected in the opening ceremony. It was a gift from its director to all of us, people of Oujda. This lm is among recently produced movies in Morocco, which deals with different humanistic issues affecting the social landscape. It won four awards at the National Film Festival in Tangier organized at the end of last year. I

believe that this success was due to the objective treatment of reality, and to the great performance of all the actors, bearing in mind that one of the movie awards is the best feminine role. So, thats why I would like to

ignorance and backwardness. A place isolated from the rest of the world, living according to very ancient rules. Therefore, everything was made in a way to make you feel that this context is similar to the Pre-Islamic era. For instance, people still eat pork, and deprive women from ALL their rights. For sure, Androman the movie had really given a great focus on womens hard living circumstances in rural areas, especially those deprived of the right of inheritance. The land, source of the life in this area becomes the richest of those who have control of it, and women thus, are the most powerless of the chain. So, and because of such a situation, a man with only daughters is persecuted.

focus on women issue treated in this movie. The story takes place in Boulmane in the regions of Ouerzazat, and it tells the story of a very poor village, where the people make their living from the trees of the woods surrounding it. Androman is the Amazigh name of the tree, the source of the living of people, by making coal from it. This vital treasure makes the subject of great conicts between villagers aiming to the illegal exploitation of Androman, and the forests guardian representing the authorities. The setting, the costumes, the behaviors, the laws, and everything in this village was meant to represent to what extend this village lived under

Maecenas pulvinar sagittis enim.

AZ LARAB ALAOUI

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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

Oujda Short Film Fest- March 2012

SAAD ALAMI MERROUNI

That is when you have the chance to meet Androman, the girl, who seems for a glance to lose everything. Not only her rights as a woman, but also her whole femininity. Being under the patriarchy of her father Ouchen, shes prohibited to manifest any of her feminine characteristics. Her father shaves all of her hair making her bold, interdicts her to put make up, and does everything to hide all of her biological parts. Besides, and under painful torture shes forced to say I am a Man. This represents how disgraceful is to have a daughter in that village, and how the life of a woman could be transformed into a permanent hell, unless she gives birth to a boy. Everything in this village was constructed in a way which strengthens patriarchal laws and behaviors, where all women were subjected to total marginalization. However, the movies director chose to show that the battle for the womens right could only be done and fought by women themselves. The viewer can feel the different symbols presented, which all add further explanations and make visual expressions more touching. There is a toy showing a bird in a cage, translating womens misery and their

inability to transgress the imaginary boundaries shaped by a very misogynous context. Also, we can think of Islamic religion. Personied in the person of the Sheikh, it is a symbol of womens freedom. The villages Sheikh was the only person who called for womens right to inherit from the lands, but his claims were never appreciated and his point of view never supported. We can also think of the horse as a symbol of strength and freedom. At the end of the movie, Androman rides the horse in a battle which she wins against a man, and against the societys rules, offering a new horizon for the villages women, and tracing the path towards a better future. ANDROMAN is the story of a courageous woman who transformed the impossible into achievable. It is a story which deplores the existing forms of inequality between sexes in morocco, as well as it is an attempt from its director Az Larabe Alaoui Lamharzi to demonstrate the following; if women seek emancipation, they will have to do it by themselves, being gathered to defend their rights, and particularly being proud to pronounce out loudly: I am a WOMAN.

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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE March

2012

Commentary on Allaouis IZORANE

By Bibi GASTON

e-mail: bibig@att.net I would rst like to congratulate you on the new International Cinematic Magazine, conceived and designed by students! I would also like to thank you for inviting me to contribute my thoughts on your First Edition, Maghreb and Morocco. While this is not the rst Moroccan or Maghrebi movie I have seen, I am not an expert on lm, Moroccan lm, Moroccan history, nor the symbols used by Moroccos many talented The lm you have asked me to unconscious daughter is taken in to be discuss, Izorane, a silent lm set in the cared for by a tribe of traditional mountains of rural Morocco, is lled women who bathe her in sacred waters with bucolic scenes from a world that is and apply a homeopathic cure; a quickly vanishing and that we are winter forest where the injured girl fortunate to have a glimpse of before it dreams of being visited at rst by sheep, symbols of sacrice, and then an author, I can say with authority that by the hooded horseman of death. Izorane, one might say, is a silent Izorane speaks to the loss of indigenous populations all over the world, from prayer, an ode to the ancient world, Nepal to Morocco to Brazil to the and to nature. Because it is wordless, we are reliant on a world of symbol. If American West. Nature reigns supreme in Izorane, and water in all its forms except ice, is we zoom back, however, with a wider lens, perhaps it is a beautiful metaphor for a females passage from girlhood into womanhood, or the worlds

dedicated to the lm of Africa, the is gone. As a landscape architect and

lmmakers. I keep quiet and smile merciful. The scenes: A slippery when I dont know what I am talking mountain road where a sports utility about. Please accept my apologies in

vehicle spins out of control; a father passage into an age of knowing. advance if my comments do not lies dead in the snow having taken his Whatever the metaphor, Izorane bares correctly interpret what the lmmaker hands off the wheel during an angry witness to the inevitability of change intended. cell phone call with his wife; a rustic and passage: from ancient to modern mountain hut where the mans and from life into death.

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Izorane, one might say, is a silent prayer, an ode to the heal the young woman of her injuries and to extract the

INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

ancient world, and to nature. Because it is wordless, we are spirits that beset the modern world. reliant on a world of symbol. If we zoom back, however, with a wider lens, perhaps it is a beautiful metaphor for a females passage from girlhood into womanhood, or the worlds passage into an age of knowing. Whatever the metaphor, Izorane bares witness to the inevitability of change and passage: from ancient to modern and from life into death. Carl Jungs early twentieth century exploration of archetypes, dreams, signs, and symbols lead us to a deeper understanding of the human journey in the natural world. If the circle is a symbol of healing the self in Izorane, it also points to the ancient world as the source of wholeness to which we might return for knowledge. However, Jungs work

Director Alaoui Lamharzis opening scene delivers us to a was not a retroactive roadmap to a simpler, more glorious mountain lake bathed in high-altitude light. We could be past. Jungs symbols are a means by which we might heal the anywhere: in Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal or with the divided self. the Sheepeater Indians, a band of the Shoshone, also known as the Snake Indians who lived in the area of what is now Yellowstone Park. In fact, we are in the mountains of Morocco inhabited by indigenous mountain tribes that span the length of North Africa and are thousands of years old, the Berbers. While there are three human characters in Set in a rural village, Izorane invites us into a conversation on modernity and healing. We may be able to sustain rural indigenous cultures and populations, but we can not repopulate rural villages nor would we want to; once they are gone, they are gone. Instead, the circle suggests we respect

indigenous knowledge while attending to the restoration and Izorane, one who is dead, one who is on the edge of death, healing of the split between man and nature, rural and and the other who heals the dead back to life, we are urban. The arc of history is long, to paraphrase Martin reminded in the opening minutes of a fourth character Luther King, but it bends towards justice, and we should that determines the quality and course of our lives: nature. hope, spiritual and human progress. The quality of mercy is not strain'd, it droppeth as the If the symbol of the circle in Izorane is to be interpreted gentle rain from heaven, writes Shakespeare. From the generously, it suggests inclusion, and the middle path. It is the opening scene, we know that Izorane will explore the gentle circle that symbolically connects humanity and nature, rain from heaven. We quickly learn that an elderly, traditionally-dressed mountain woman has somehow taken charge of an injured heaven and earth, ying and yang, man and woman, east and west. The circle connects the points of the star that form when we draw two triangles atop one another; the circle

young woman from the city after a car accident in which her overlies the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci and the domes of father is killed. The mountain woman goes out to retrieve Michelangelo; the circle encompasses the face of the sticks for the re and discovers a strange ragged doll in the sunower while the sunower itself mimics the daily journey snow. Carrying the sticks on her back and the doll in her of the sun as it crosses the arc of the sky. In 'Symbolism in hand, she returns to the hut and places the doll so that it the Visual Arts' Man and His Symbols (Carl Jung), Aniela stands guard over her injured guest. A note arrives, delivered Jaffe, writes that the circle expresses the totality of the by a postman on horseback, but the mountain woman is psyche in all its aspects, including the relationship between illiterate and so the postman reads her the letter. We do not man and the whole of nature. Whether the symbol of the know what is in the letter, but we do know that the letter circle appears in primitive sun worship or modern religion, in contains a dark stain in the form of a circle formed by the myths or dreams, in the mandalas drawn by Tibetan monks, bottom of a glass. Homeopathy being the oldest form of in the ground plans of cities, or in the spherical concepts of medicine, the mountain woman sees the sign of the circle in early astronomers, it always points to the single most vital the letter and embarks on an ancient candle-lit ceremony of cups to heal her injured guest. We assume that she aims to aspect of life its ultimate wholeness."

Ms. Bibi GASTON

Bibi Gaston is an American Author and Landscape Architect. She was born in Tangier, Morocco. Her rst Book, "The Loveliest Woman in America: A Tragic Actress, Her Lost Diaries and Her Granddaughter's Search for Home, " was published by William Morrow/ Harper Collins and was selected as a nalist for the prestigious Literary Arts Society's Oregon Book Award in 2010 and featured as a Book of the Month at the Center for the Book at the US Library of Congress. Bibi is at work on a second book in which she retraces the footsteps of her parents unpublished "Guidebook to Northern Morocco," written on the eve of Moroccan

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interview
Dr. Az Larab ALOUI I

am proud to be A Moroccan

Arab Amazigh

Interviewer: Hicham MOUSSA

ICM: International Cinematic board welcomes you Mr. Alaoui and appreciates very much accepting our invitation to have such an interview with us. This interview is devoted, particulary, to your short lm Izorane and woud love also to have a look at your personal career. To start with your career; why do Mr. Allaoui prefer to write in images and sounds ?
Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: I always nd it difcult to talk about myself, because I always love to let my work speak on behalf of me. Azlarab Alaoui is a Moroccan lm director, holder of a Ph.D. in Film Discourse, a professor of audiovisual communication at Mohammed V University in Rabat, and the founder of the Federation of Film Critics in Morocco. I have produced six short lms which are: [23]

Bidoza The Island of One DayA Date in Oualili Rice Grains. Izorane. The Blind and the Gyspy. And a lm entitled "Ondroman of Blood and Coal". Most of these productions were awarded national and international prizes. I also produced a large number of documentary lms and three television movies.

ICM: How did Mr. Alaoui came to the areana of lmmaking ? What were your rst inspirational lms at the beginning of your experience ?
Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: I joined the audiovisual world for the rst time as an assistant director with the Moroccan lm director, Jilali Ferhati, in the production of Moroccan lms in 1992. Then, I had several trainings outside Morocco and I carried out studies in the eld of lm production in Canada, as well as academic studies. I earned a diploma of high studies in Film Criticism in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Film Discourse in 2001.

ICM: Allow me Mr. Allaoui to re-frame my question in this formula: what is the additional value that making documentaries can give a lm director later ?
Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: Working in the industry of documentary lms provides the lm director with an artistic touch which derives its strength from the simulation of reality and the weaving of its strings with a mystical plot closer to God in its serenity than the human reality in its different contradictions. The documentary lm, then, is a deep work on community, its values, principles and contradictions and is, therefore, a reading of a permanent moving and owing world through image. ICM: Now, let us Mr. Alaoui focus on your lm Izorane. We know that Izorane is a berber term which means in English roots ? Why a berber title Mr. Allaoui to your lm ? I mean, was it done , basically, with regard to your background ? Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: Izoran, before explaining the source of this Amazigh word, is a lm which I always consider as lmography of Amazigh Cinema. I have participated with this lm in several national and international festivals and under the banner of Tamazight. All its prizes awarded to this lm, which are more than 20 awards ..., are awards for the international Amazigh Film. I am proud to be a Moroccan Arab Amazigh.. and I defend my identity. If you observe the movie of Androman its title is also Amazigh and it is performed in Amazigh soil. I believe that Amazigh patrimony is an endless treasure. The lm of Izoran offered me a lot in my professional life. It put me ahead with an international standing as it is considered by the American website Iveseen.com one of the best ten movies of 2008 worldwide. ICM: Why do we have a silent Izorane ? How was the task in narrating with solely images ?

ICM: I actually read many articles on your works and found that you started your careet from making documentaries to short lms and then long lms. Do you think Mr. Allaoui such procedures are needed in ones career ? That is to say, to have a deep vision like we touch in your lms, one must go through the mentioned procedures ?
Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: I think that a lm director must meet the basic set of qualities to be successful. He should dedicate himself to this work and should be knowledgeable. He should be familiar with techniques of lm production. Ultimately, he should be human in the real sense of the word and let his humanity show in his work. Perhaps, my artistic career in the eld of documentary and short lm production, television, poetry, literature and criticism has contributed signicantly to what I am now, thank God.

Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: Izoran is not a silent movie; it is rather a speaking one via image. Though its characters are speechless, the image was sufcient in addressing the world using its original language. The fact of not using words in the movie was a bet on writing a movie that speaks by itself, its structures, its rich visual components, and its iconic semiology that contributes to the makeup of the story. Relying on this approach of writing was not easy; it was a test of what I have acquired during my academic studies in writing via the image, and, thank God, I succeeded in this challenge. In fact, the lm has become a reference for visual writing teaching in many audiovisual colleges and universities. ICM: Izorane, roots, a facinating short lm. A failied mixed marriage turned the life of a beautiful girl into hell. The girl chose or her father have chosen for her to live in Morocco with her grandmother and left her mom abroad with her boyfriend to live in an exotic place in Morocco. An accident due to a call from the mother to the father caused his death and the death of the girl later. Here, one feels that you Mr. put the blame on the mother, though we do not know the reasons of their seperation ? Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: I do not condemn the mother nor marrying foreign women. I am not qualied to condemn any social forms. I try only to report a profound humanitarian situation experienced by the grandmother and the girl who refused to live outside Morocco despite of the potential therapeutic that are out there. She was satised with the tenderness of her grandmother and the roots of her nation as a kind of existential susm and return to nature. Izoran is diving into human existence. It is theosophic approach that relies on the basic components of nature and existence; it is not a supercial movie condemning and judging plain social problems.

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ICM: Mr. Alaoui, cant we say that Izorane roots can attach the girl to her mother real roots actually than to the masculan society of her daddy ? Why Did you give this preference to masculanality ? Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: I did not think to give preference to patriarchy at the expense of maternity, which is considered to be the origin of all things and afliations. I gave priority to call the soul by considering the girl an d th e grandmother as symbol of fertility and extension. The father was absent from the beginning; he was only a bridge crossing from one life to another one which can be termed overcoming death. The human

considered the buffeted doll by the society whims; however her attachment to her roots enabled her to preserve her childhood. She was born, lived and died as a child. ICM: The Vilage is given an awesome image, though terrible coldness and suffering looks romantic and one feels the need to see and live in such places. Clearly, you played on colors and music. One may wonder why do we have only natural sounds; the wind, water, etc, except one episode which is done with instruments ? And also why Tamawate voices which certainly gave a surplus effect with images ? can I say Izorane was done silently to leave space to Tamawate within it ? Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: For me, the

tendency in cinematic writing. I deem Izoran was meant to be the beginning.

ICM: We felt you want to send many messages in a short period of time. What is the main message Mr. Allaoui wants to say in words, not images this time ? Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: Formulating messages through pictures was not my principle aim. Yet it was deeper than that. It is meant to make time stand still in one of the human Su moments. A moment of diving into the self as the girl dove into of the bottom of the lake in the movie. A search for truth. Susm in cinema is diving by picture for the essence of things. The story behind the movie is only a cover to pass to what is much deeper than it is. ICM: Izorane got many prizes: in Tangier, Algeria, and Spain ? ICM broad is glad to have you in the rst issue and wish all the best. Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: Actually, Izoran was successful in and outside the country. It became a lesson in visual writing in many institutes of cinema. It won many awards. However, celebrating it in this magazine which is considered to be the rst critique initiative in the rst language in the world is an honor for me and an ov a t i o n f o r s e r i o u s a n d p e r f e c t production. I hope I will be up to your expectations.

spirit call does not choose; it leads to its world without consulting anyone. This is illustrated in the girls clinging to the grandmother and weaving her own specic world that she was living on dreams. Dreams, in my opinion, are always the beginning of knowing the truth. Izorane is full of symbols which shed the viewer attention. Actually, a reviewer for ICM asked me to forward you this question : what is the signicance you want to put in the doll ? Dr. Azlarab Alaoui: The presence of the doll in "Izoran" movie was a founding presence of the whole story. The dolls extraction from ice; from nature, and we know that there was ice everywhere in the beginning of the universe. The movie is ended by re-entering the doll in water which a melted ice which is back nature. It has an existential signicance about the human journey as a whole and the journey of this girl that can be herself

location plays a crucial rule in the plot of all my movies. In Izoran, it was the main character of the story. The choice of the location was in such augustness and sanctity. It was, as mentioned, the beginning of existencein its cold rituals, in addition to the frigidity of other social relations among the husband and his wife and the intimacy of the grandmother and the girl that was portrayed in the warmth of the house and its numerous fervent candles and its warm waters that was poured on her back. Hence the location was never arbitrary. As for the music and sound effects, I deliberately turned to nature as a source of inspiration, as I made it present by rustle of leaves, the murmur of water, the singing of birds, the wind, the human voices and so on. Additionally, in music I did not use any electrical instruments, yet all the instruments used were natural and dependant on themselves in producing sounds except for the generic song that was made by an electric guitar. Tamawite or the Amazigh cry was necessary. It is not traditional nor of folklore; yet it is an extension in the human depth for an entire human squeal. A cry for losing heaven and descending to earth..

have always worked and I am

I extend my warmest regards to the readers of this magazine.

still working on the creation of a Su [25]

INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

les Mains Rudes: Discourses of Moroccan-ness

BY LAHMIDI MOHAMED
It is important to underline the fact that cinema as an ideological apparatus largely plays a great role in imparting a certain number of artistic, aesthetic, ideological, and cultural codes to be decoded by the audience. In other words, a lm is to a greater extent a labyrinthine textual structure fraught with numberless underlying codes to be identied and pinpointed by any clever semiotician/ spectator. Within this framework, the Moroccan lm director Mohamed Assli succeeds in subscribing to this line of thought as the latter wins the bet by coming up with a truly signicant masterpiece dubbed Les Mains Rudes. As a matter of fact, Asslis approach adopted in the above-mentioned lm reveals that the director under study is fully aware of the message he wants to communicate devoid of any cheap ideolog y or supercial cinematic conceptualization. So, what makes it really an artistic chef-doeuvre? As far as Les Mains Rudes is concerned, it is about a story of a young woman called Zakia working as a tutor for kids in a marginalized neighbourhood in the metropolitan Casablanca. The latter does not appear to be content with the situation; that is why, she yearns for joining her anc in Spain in the hope of getting rid of poverty because she and her mother, who works as a carpet designer, arduously toiling to earn a living. Her anc will tell her that a Spanish committee will pay a visit to Morocco so as to select a few women to work in strawberry elds on condition that she has to be a nomad, married and her hands must be rough on top of that. Zakia will ask her neighbour Mustapha who is a hairdresser and also a broker because he helps people meet their needs for some money in return. The latter will provide her with contracts of marriage and birth of two fake children. Furthermore, she makes her best to make her hands look rough as if she is familiar with the toil in elds, but the trick would be uncovered when the committee asks her to expose her feet which turn out to be soft. At this stage, Zakia truly feels humiliated and crushed. As to the specicity of the movie, it certainly came to stress that there are brilliant movie directors who are armed with a profound cinematic culture/insight that is rightly far from being caught in the vortex of shallow demagogy. To illustrate, Les Mains Rudes is a worthwhile attempt in this context because it has mainly laid focus on the ills of the contemporary Moroccan society in general, the ups and downs of the marginalized neighbourhoods of the metropolitan Casablanca in particular. Given this focus, it is worthwhile considering that this lm is a sincere window on our country in which the dreams of the poor do not come true because of the uphill living conditions.

Les Mains Rudes de Mohammed ASLI

E-mail: lahmidi-16safar@hotmail.com

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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

From the very beginning, the audience seems to be captivated and spellbound by the rst scene of the movie- the scene of birds kept in cages on a building roof- which turns out to be pretty much signicant and suggestive because it really sums up the gist of the whole movie. This very scene underlines the fact that everybody in this vast space- the metropolitan Casablanca- appears to be enclosed within their cage of dreams and hopes. In other words, there is no way out or light at the end of the tunnel. The upshot of this line of argument reveals that there is a great deal of professionalism within the lm. Interestingly enough, the narration or the story-telling leaves no choice for the audience but to get emotionally engaged with the narrative ow, drama, and romance of the movie. From the thematic perspective, the lm plainly handles the issue of immigration with reference to the human conditions. The crucial point here is that there is some sort of intractable desire to immigrate so as to look for better living conditions, but unfortunately those who immigrate to Europe are called upon to give up their dignity. As a consequence, Moroccan citizens are in a far greater ontological dilemma, so to speak. It is much more important to note that the lm under scrutiny is an artistic condemnation of any sort of human exploitation or enslavement whether in our homeland or in host countries. It is true that this masterpiece tries to bring to light all the aspects of cultural malaise and moral aberration in our contemporary society. Concerning the language/dialogue used in the movie, I would denitely argue that we are more than ever in need of the cinematic language maintained in the lm because it proves to be rened to a greater extent. With respect to the lming/shooting, it is worthwhile pointing out that it turns out to be professional because throughout the movie we do feel that some images do take the place of the dialogue between characters in a very highly

artistic way. The images transmitted are considerably shocking. Taken in this spirit, the lm deeply plunges into the real concerns and troubles of the different sections of our Moroccan society. Lots of scenes help the audience pin down the social contradictions. In addition to that, it puts emphasis on the dignity of woman who is going through tribulations and doing her best to earn a living, whereas the man -as is the case in many scenes- seems to squander his time in cafs. The camera angles adopted in this lm truly sums up Asslis artistic and aesthetic vision. To put it differently, it is a new promising cinematic paradigm to be upheld instead of the ideological platforms adopted by other movie directors. The choice of spaces is largely is far more relevant and pertinent. The soundtrack also bestows upon the lm a romantic and poetic touch because the music played seems to truly match the psychological and mental states/ reactions of characters. In fact, part of the impasse partially seems to be settled because towards the end of the movie, there is some sort of satisfactory denouement which nds expression in the marriage of Zakia and Mustapha. Not surprisingly, this marriage in their case is a plausible solution instead of the immigration, especially that of women which is a kind of enslavement. The component of marriage symbolically sums up Asslis line of thought/ argument in this movie. All in all, Asslis Les Mains Rudes is a far more suggestive conciliatory moment with our national identity or our Moroccan-ness. It is actually true that the movie deals with the contradictions of the metropolitan Casablanca, but nevertheless it is one of the rarest movies that extols the components of our Moroccan civilization, especially its deep-seated customs and traditions such as Henna, Ahwach Dance, Moroccan carpet, teaetc

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Mohammed AISSAOUI E- mail : medaiss@gmail.com

Boredom and Childhood in Moroccan Cinema

Russell wrote in his best book The Pursuit of Happiness that boredom is part of happiness. However, in the contemporary British life of Russell, the monotony was the standard of the British. Nowadays, boredom takes different novice forms, like one spends unstoppable hours in his/her ofce or workshop focusing only on one particular subject. Thus boredom becomes doing one thing for a long time. We know that Moroccan cinema rarely contributes to the issue of children and their psycho-social problems. Hakim Nouris Raped Childhood, 1993 , revolves around the life of a young girl from a wealthy family. Ali Zaoua, 2001 by Nabil Ayouch, has dealt also with the life of street children and other related issues. In this latter, the lives of three children Kwita, Omar and Boubker is a result of chaining and bad daily habits. They are glue-sniffers. They sell any object next to trafc lights for car drivers; they sell cigarettes and smoke. What is more, they are still subjected to sexual harassment by their elders (the band of a certain Dib). The life of these children is not real and hence they were trained by the director to perform such roles in the movie, except in case of the actor Said Taghmaoui in the role of Dib who is a professional. And as mentioned Ali's mother by questioning his friend Omar about his own life; how is it ? A boring life, he replied. The director did not ask whether these actors live a happy life or not. Since the rst minutes, scenes show that routine and boredom are the main themes. Except in the case of the protagonists close friend, Kwita. The scenarist has given Ali a dream to see other possible worlds and forget the real life. Finding the money to realize the dream of Ali and bury him so that he can reach his dream island with two suns. Clearly, the director introduced animation and fantasy as an interposition of dreams and imagination to Kwita to face up the harshness of reality. The lm of Hakim Nouris Raped Childhood also did not add much to the juvenile thematic in Moroccan cinema. The life of a little mad is a k i n d o f p hy s i c a l a n d s e x u a l harassment, on the one hand, by [28] parents and ,on the other hand, by their children The same case applies in the Moroccan lms produced by TV channels. The example is for the lm "Birds Fall Too" produced by 2M, the young protagonist followed the shortest path by reducing the dreams of his mother to become a good person to society instead of his brother, but things have changed at the end and the child embarked for Europe as the only resort from his boring life. To conclude, Moroccan cinema has not dealt fairly with the social problems of Moroccan children. Moroccan cinema has only one vision of our childhood: Boredom.

. www.lmthreat.com/re views/1748/

. Nabil Ayouchs ALI ZAOUA, 2oo1.

References:

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Hidden Behind A Crystal Glass

By Ayoub BELGHARBI

A Real World

This Movie ''Almansiyoon'' Which means in migrants. Percent Moroccan and Belgian actors Arabic The 'Forgotten People'' speaks a story of a involved: Meryem Ajdou, Abderrahime Lmnyari, country girl named Yamna who looses her laila Larj, Asmaa Khamlichi sides. First time i saw the movie i liked the plot and the story, I saw it as a strong statement that

virginity whilst playing with Azooz; the shepherd. The lm was nominated in the festivals of speaks a miserable life within a life itself. Realism, Before he migrates to Europe, Azooz Promised Tangier, Tetouan and Rotterdam, the lm is not expressionism and symbolism all in one as a work Yamna to marry her as soon as he makes a directed to large audiences, as it contains scenes to of art built from both raw and fatal cause that we fortune. After several months, and as the young bold important sequences of events according to as Moroccans must be aware of and stay true to. girl receives no updates from the shepherd, her the director. father forces her to marry a rich merchant from her town. The night of the wedding, Yamna's And that's exactly what the director Hassan Benjlloun did, He kept authenticity and The movie ''Almansiyoun'' had positive and transparency alive in his movie That shall never

husband nds out that she was no virgin and the encouraging reviews, As it dealt with the sexual be one of the many forgotten. news spreads out in the town, she vacates the town exploitation of women across the world, but it was to her aunt's house in fez. As she leaves with the more focused on the ''local merchandise''; thought of never going back she tells her story to Moroccan women whom were presented by three the taxi driver whom suggests to her joining a characters, Yamna, Amal and Nawal. Those girls group of dancers that were going to Belgium. She escaped their miserable lives and their country to agrees in the hope of meeting her Azooz again. Europe;Belgium, hoping to achieve all those components that make from a life a better Al Mansiyoune is the new feature by Moroccan one.However, they end up prisoners for a ruthless director Hassan Benjlloun, he speaks of the Maa that is very active in Brussels in the domain suffering of Moroccan immigrants in European of sexual exploitation of women. The movie also countries, it also addresses the issue of illegal won the Moroccan best script award at the immigration and the social conditions of international Arab lm festival. E-mail:

ayou_khan@hotmail.com

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The Absence of Communication Between Sexes in Morocco: How is this Absence Represented in The Bitter Orange
By Yassine AMARA
No one can deny that communication is of paramount importance for the construction of individuals in a given society. Communication is essential for any relation between people. Thanks to the role it has played throughout history that some societies have reached very advanced" stages of development; while, others are swimming in quicksand unable to step forward. To say it in another way, misunderstanding others causes the lack of communication in some societies, such as the Moroccan society .If we scrutinize the Moroccan society, we vividly gure out that the absence of communication has resulted in the emergence of a gap between sexes. This latter, has grabbed the attention of not only sociologists but also lm producers .This is obvious in the Moroccan lm the Bitter Orange. As far as I am concerned, after watching the Bitter Orange a question popped up in my mind ,"Did the lm producer try innocently to tell story of two unfortunate lovers or was it an attempt to ring the bell that sex gap is gaining ground in the Moroccan society?" I believe it was the latter of the two. To illustrate, the lm maker tried through his protagonist Saadia to depict the effects of the absence of communication between sexes. Saadia was a young beautiful girl who fell in love with a policeman, when he stopped her from steeling the orange. The policeman asked Saadia:"why are you stealing the orange...how are you going to eat it? Its still bitter" .Saadia said in dazzled eyes:"I'll add sugar and it will be sweet" .the policeman said:"what a pity! I won't eat what you will prepare.This was the only and the last conversation between Saadia and the policeman .After this conversation Saadia was overwhelmed by the beauty of the policeman, whom she could not tell him about her love and was stinking to know his news. One day, she heard that he will get married, she was very happy; she thought she will be the bride. She waited him but he never came and she heard he had married another woman. Due to this act she lost her mind and became foolish. This brief summary of the story of "Saadia" reveals the wide gap between woman and man in the Moroccan society, Saadia could not express her feeling and lost her love and became madwoman, while the policeman married a woman that was presented to him by his mother ( the lady was not presented to him by his mother but by his friends wife). To say it in another way, Saadia is character which projects the consequences of the absence of communication, since people do not communicate their opinions , they keep them and wait for the magic touch .Consequently , the Moroccan society experience cases like "Saadia" and the unsuccessful relations which lead to divorce , homelessness and delinquency. In conclusion, the lack of communication is the result of historical accumulations which should be corrected and it must be on the lime light of all the component of society in order to understand the other and overcome the social problems which their effects remain for generations!

yassinehope@gmail.com

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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

March 2012
Hicham MOUSSA E-mail: hicmoussa@gmail.com

Immigrants Retirement Period:

Abellatif Kechiches THE SACRED days. Why are you insisting to stay here

Where to Go ?
clients and chief banks. That is to say, it is the end of Slimanes project. But Slimane did not give up and he went home on his motor to ask his ex-wife to prepare another couscous, but while he moved to her apartment, three little Maghrebi boys stole his motor and they kept asking him to catch them up if he can. In one hour of running after them, he died in the street alone. It was a terrible end of a hard working man. His girl friend prepared another couscous and saved the project. Clearly, the idea is that one needs to run his own business and do not trust French employers. Slimane achieved the project for his sons and died. He cared about his kids more than they cared about him. Therefore, the recurred lesson is what Abdul Allah Samate said: I quit my country, my family to grow up my kids that is one thing. Second, I hope my kids will succeed in life.16

SECRET OF COUSCOUS deals with a in France ?. Slimane was shocked at man named Slimane at his last ve receiving such words, particularly, from years at work. His French boss his sons. How do they leave him at this suddenly red him, because you are moment of crisis ? He kept silent and very tired and then you make me in deeply grieves to have such request tiresome, as his boss said. Slimane from his sons. became jobless. He has two sons and two daughters from his ex-wife. He lived with his Maghrebin girlfriend, who had one teenage daughter. In this period, Slimane was very depressed. He spent few months looking for another job, but he unfortunately did not succeed to have one. His two sons came to him where he lived with his girlfriend and asked him to return home Algeria. They told him you have nothing to do here, just go home. You will live the rest of your life with your old friends and the unemployment payment is enough for you to live well there. You can start a small business and nishes your last Actually, Slimane refused to come back home, because he did not want to leave his kids to have the same destiny that he had had. And he decided to create a personal project in France. He failed to have loans from banks. But his determination was very strong and he made it alone. Slimane invited chief bank consultants to attend the opening day of the project and then supports him later. The opening night was on and a silly mistake from his sons caused his death. In other words, one of his sons forgot couscous in the car and the other son took the car and headed the subway to help a friend far from home, meaning, no couscous for Slimanes

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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE March 2012

Roschdy Zems OMAR KILLED deals also with the issue of retirement. Omars father was still in France, because he was happy in France and considered it as his mother country. He trusted its systems and taught justice was embodied in this country. But they condemned his son, he mistrusted this country and left home in grief and regret. He said France took me all what it gave me earlier. Immigrants during the retirement period found themselves lost between going back home or stay with their kids in France. It is a very big decision to take.Mohamed Toukal says: I want to go home, but I have kids born here. Its their native country, they were born here. I am obliged to stay with them.17 Hamou Gumad has got the funniest stranger reason to say in France I go home from time to time and come back to France. I left my money in France. I have condence in France. I am saying the truth. That is, I am saying the truth. Since I opened my bank account in the Post, they did not take from me anything.18 Hence, Hamou Gumad spent his youth collecting money and wanted to spend his last days guarding this money and feel secure about it in French banks. It sounds stupid, but they are happy in this way. In brief, the majority of immigrants spend their retirement period in France, because of different reasons, which can meet in the question of habit. They are familiar with the system in France and they can not change it.
The Sacrd Couscous is a Tunisian Film. It was released in 2009 and got many awards

INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC E-MAGAZINE

C.CINEMATIC@GMAIL.COM

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Exclusive Pictures From Benazizs next two lms

Exclusive Pictures From Mr. Benazizs Salt of love and The Dream for Humburger
ICM shares with you exclusive pictures from the two coming short lms of Mr. Benazizs Salt of Love and The Dream for Humburger.

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VIRGINIA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

AVA I L A B L E

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ONLINE
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* Virginia Intentional University is certi ed to operate in Virginia by the SCHEV and accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS)

For Further Information Contact Ibtissam, ibtissam@viu.edu [36]

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

ISSUE N2
INTERNAT IONAL CIN

-MAGAZIN EMATIC E

DIFFERENT CULTURES, DIFFERENT STORIES

ASIAN CINEMAS:

THE NEXT ISSUE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THE 21 ST OF JUNE 2012. THE DEADLINE FOR RECEIVING CONTRIBUTIONS IS SETTLED ON THE 01 ST OF JUNE 2012.
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INT E R N AT I O N A L C I N E M ATIC E - M AG AZ IN E

International Cinematic E-Magazine Staff:

CHIED EDITORIAL MANAGERS:
1. HICHAM MOUSSA 2. MOHAMMED ZERIOUH 3. MOHAMED BELBACHA 4. ABDELHAFID JABRI

WRITERS:
1. AHLAM LAMJAHDI 2. ALI BOUHIDORA 3. AYOUB BELGHARBI 4. AISSAOUI MOHAMED 5. BRAHIM AMZIL 6. FOUAZI YASBAH

COMMUNICATION DIRECTORS:
1. SAAD ALAMI 2. HICHAM MOUSSA

ICM PROOFREADER: . LAHBIB LAMRID

CO-MANAGERS: 5. AISSAOUI MOHAMMED 6. AHMED MAAZOUZI 7. LIMAME BARBOUCHI

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