‘Ali Zaoua The Prince of The Street’ By Nabil Ayouch

One of the characteristics that distinguishes Ayouch’s movies is realism. In all his movies, Nabil does not seek to fanaticize reality, rather his topics stems from the suffering and problems that Moroccan society undergo.

In this film ‘Ali Zaoua’, Ayouch dives deep in street children’s life and dreams. This film is more a documentary than a film in which it projects the life of street children who represent themselves in the movie. Kwita (Mounim Kbab), Omar (Mustapha Hansali), Boubker (Hicham Moussoune), and Ali (Abdlhak Zhayra) are street children that Ayouch gives them a chance to depict their miserable life and represent all street children in Morocco.

The film’s story is about the four boys who decided to leave the gangster they were living with and start their own life, but the chief’s gang does not allow that. Then after a quarrel, Ali is hit by a stone and dies. His friends, Kwita, Omar, and Boubker, decide to give him a decent funeral like a real prince. Before Ali dies, he tells Kwita that he is going to sail to his island where there are two suns. Kwita becomes also obsessed with the idea and tries to materialize his dead friend’s dream. After that, with the help of a sailor, Hamid, whom Ali was working with, they build a small boat for Ali that will take his body to the island he dreams of. At the end, they bring Ali’s mother to the funeral and sail in Hamid’s boat singing a wonderful song that speaks their need for passion and empathy.

‘Ali Zaoua’ released in 2000, and it won several awards. It was even nominated for Best Foreign film Oscar.

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'Horses of God' by Nabill Ayouch

A commemoration of excruciating events

The film ‘Horses of God’ is a true story based on Mahi binebine’s novel ‘les étoile de Sidi Moumen’. The story is about the bombing of Casablanca in 2003 by 12 suicide bombers. Nabil tracks the life of three of suicide bombers for more than ten years. Through the movies, the focus is more on the three characters and the environment they live in rather than the ideology or fanaticism.

Yachine (Abdelhakim rachid) and his aggressive older brother Hamid (Abdelilah Rachid) struggle from their early age to help their mother and the family to survive. Then Hamid is caught in prison after he throws a stone on cops. Yachine suffers while working alone in the market, and he loves the neighborhood’s beautiful girl whom he never has the chance to meet alone.

After two years Hamid is released a devout believer. Afterwards, Yachine and his friend Nabil are affected by Hamid’s religiosity and they join his group of believers who prepare them with others for the mission of elevating Islam against disbelievers. Afterwards, these young guys turn into walking bombs in streets of Casablanca. Although Hamid tries to dissuade his brother, the latter is determined about the mission. Having said that, the bombing kills 45 people and wounds more than 100 others.

 Ayouch succeeds in his film to capture the process through which many factors intertwined to produce fanaticism such as poverty and illiteracy.

The film is released in 2014.  

                      

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'Death for Sale' by Faouzi Bensaidi

Death for sale (Mort à Vendre) is a movie that inspires its characters from under the surface reality of Morocco. The movie is shot in Tetouan and it revolves around three inseparable friends. 

Malik, Allal, and Soufiane are young friends that hold their hands to face the unbearable situation they are living. They decide to change their miserable condition through one shot by heisting a 
spanish jeweler though each has his own motivation. Malik wants 
to save his beloved prostitute; Allal needs money to start his own 
drug business, whereas Soufiane wants to revenge the jeweler.

 Driven by love, greediness, or belief, the three unlucky friends are betrayed by their own dreams from one side and by society from 
the other. 

Bensaidi succeeds to draw a vivid picture of a segment of people. 
Although they seem delinquent, yet they aspire for better life. The 
movie’s characters are trapped in their marginalized situation, but
 they manage to create their own world even if it costs them their 
life. Through those characters, we tend to have a close image of 
people on the edge and how good people that love and dream for 
better life turn into criminals overnight.

The movie is written and directed by Faouzi Bensaidi and it was released in 2011.

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