Assarab
Mirage
© Moroccan Cinematheque
Mohamed el-Habachi, Mohamed Saïd Afifi
Assarab | Mirage
© Moroccan Cinematheque
Mohamed Saïd Afifi
Assarab | Mirage
© Moroccan Cinematheque
Mohamed Saïd Afifi (left)
Assarab | Mirage
© Moroccan Cinematheque
Set in colonial-era Morocco, where a poor villager finds a bundle of banknotes in a bag of flour. He convinces his wife to give up her position as a maid in a French household and move to the city with him. He wants to exchange the currency, but is afraid of going to a bank. He wanders around Salé looking for a money changer, meeting many other people who are also looking for a better life. They include the clown-like singer and actor Ali ben Ali and the hungry visitors to a soup kitchen. His wife also does her best to find happiness – she wants to have a goat sacrificed to get the help of the Genie.
Poet and screenwriter Ahmed Bouanani (1938–2011) was one of the founders of Morocco’s modern cinema tradition. He said he made films “the way he wrote poems”. The 4K restoration of his only narrative feature used original 35mm elements and took four months. It focused on retaining the film’s unique visual and audio identity, faithfully recreating the analogue aesthetic at the heart of Ahmed Bouanani’s work.
Poet and screenwriter Ahmed Bouanani (1938–2011) was one of the founders of Morocco’s modern cinema tradition. He said he made films “the way he wrote poems”. The 4K restoration of his only narrative feature used original 35mm elements and took four months. It focused on retaining the film’s unique visual and audio identity, faithfully recreating the analogue aesthetic at the heart of Ahmed Bouanani’s work.
Trailer/Film Excerpt
With
- Mohamed el-Habachi
- Mohamed Saïd Afifi
- Fatima Regragui
- Mostafa Mounir
- Mohamed Razine
- Mohamed Idrissi
- Abdellah Amrani
- Jilali Bel Haj
Crew
| Director | Ahmed Bouanani |
| Screenplay | Ahmed Bouanani |
| Cinematography | Abdallah Bayahia |
| Editing | Ahmed Bouanani |
| Music | Groupe Image |
| Sound Design | Yahia Bouabdesslam |
| Production Design | Ahmed Bouanani |
| Costumes | Naïma Saoudi |
| Make-Up | Naïma Saoudi |
| Producer | Mohamed Belekziz |
Additional information
DCP: La Cinémathèque Marocaine
