Salma Eddlimi (Actress), Hicham Lasri (Director, Screenwriter), Wissam Hojeij (Score Composer), Mona-Lise Lanfant (Editor), Thomas Guentch (Producer), Moderation: Andreas Struck
On 11 June 1986, one day after Morocco wrote football world cup history by scoring a surprising victory over Portugal, government official Daoud is ordered to secure a bridge outside Casablanca that sits between two hostile communities over an empty highway. Here, he is to await the expected but by no means certain visit of King Hassan II. Encounters with government supporters and the families of political prisoners; the mysterious appearance of a foreign woman and a Berber, as well as the story of a football crazy boy all prove to be a bit much for Daoud. Ever since the bloody ‘bread riots’ five years earlier, he has felt paralysed. But the euphoria and the hope he encounters here help to lift his mood. The Moroccan team’s success unleashes a new self-confidence and lust for life that transcends the surreal shadow of the monarchy. As in Starve your Dog, Hicham Lasri takes another critical look at his country’s history, creating a visually stunning, iridescent, psychedelic fairy tale full of absurd situations above which a mercilessly oppressed people rises.
by
Hicham Lasri
Morocco / France / Qatar / Lebanon 2017
Arabic
111’ · Colour
Aziz Hattab (Daoud)Latefa Ahrrare (Rita)Zoubir Abou el Fadl (Lotfi)El Jirari Benaissa (Moqadem Coca)Salma Eddlimi (Leila)Adil Abatorab (Larbi)Zoubida Akif (Amina)Jaouad Sayeh (Moqadem Bibsi)Nacer Mdaghri (Ali)Saadia Marrakchia (Houira)
Born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1977. He studied law before making a name for himself as a playwright, novelist and screenwriter. In 2011, he made his debut feature, The End, about the last days of Morocco’s King Hassan II.
Filmography2005 Jardin des Rides; 13 min. 2010 Android; 8 min. 2011 The End; 105 min. 2013 C’est eux les chiens (They Are the Dogs); 85 min. 2014 Al bahr min ouaraikoum (The Sea is Behind); 88 min., Panorama 2015 2015 Starve Your Dog; 94 min., Panorama 2016 2017 Headbang Lullaby; 90 min., Panorama 2017 2018 Jahilya
Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2018
Les Films de l'Heure Bleue
Pan Production
Paul Thiltges Distributions