Real Morocco on Film
Morocco’s image is changing on the silver screen if director, Nour-Eddine Lakhmari has his way. He is filming a new story in Casablanca about two poor friends. Not only is he using local street boys to portray his characters, he is showing a Morocco that is rarely seen on the screen. Most people have seen Morocco shown as a glamorous place in such films as Lawrence of Arabia, Troy and others, that used Morocco as a backdrop. Mr. Lakhmari is putting a real Moroccan face to world. People, here, want to see their lives not the lives that Europe or the US paints of them. Home grown stories have been successful in films lately. Many poorer neighborhoods of the northern cities have all the ingredients for movies. Everyday life of joblessness, insecurity, betrayal, and hopelessness is fodder for stories of life as it really is. This is what the film makers are showing to the cinema world today.
Morocco’s film industry has grown from two or three films a year being produced in the late 1960s to 15 recently. Film makers have enjoyed a more relaxed censorship under King Mohammed Vl. They have been able to question authority and show Morocco’s reality in everyday life for the poorer peoples. At the same time, producers and directors show the sense of respectability in the country’s society. Some of the new found freedoms could be curtailed if the PJD gets elected to the legislator. While many in Morocco’s film community sometimes create problems for themselves using self-censorship or fearing a backlash, they continue to break new ground.
Morocco’s film industry is working to make the country the leading film center in Africa. A new school to turn out trained directors, actors and technicians has been started in Marrakesh.
Moroccan films have not stopped the downward trend in people going to the cinema. Competition from pirated DVDs and television has cut into the film market. Many Moroccan theatres have closed over the past 10 years, and it is estimated only around 100 are still open. Many of the cinemas have fallen into disrepair. Single screen theatres have been replaced by multi-screen cinemas in Europe. Morocco is about 25 years behind and has a lot of catching up to do. The local film industry is working on it.
Written By: Carole Morris
Brought to you by: Morocco Travel News with Journey Beyond Travel
Source: Reuters
One Response to “Real Morocco on Film”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
December 25th, 2007 at 9:01 am
[…] officials hope the ESAV will establish a re-birth to the Moroccan film industry. Cinematic projections are for approximately 40 feature films a year by the year 2020. […]