Young cinema or cinema of the youth

Written by Allal El Alaoui

            It is indeed a complex question whether there is a cinema of the youth or young cinema, but obviously there is young cinema or simply young people who have been successful to make beautiful movies such as OrsonWelles, Sam Peckinpah and Truffaut not forgetting some Arab film makers who have been good to produce handsome movies when they were in the early age naming for example Shadi Abdel Salam, Youssef Chahineand Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina

            There is a French proverb that says "If only young people know and if only old people can". It is true that young people are asked to dare in order to write and realize their own vision in movies. However, how can youth create knowing that their minds are old? It is a sort of phobia that young people of Morocco are suffering from today especially this question is remarked by too many university professors either in Marrakech; Rabat, Casablanca, or even Fez.

            Young people are confronted with two main elements that influence them in making their careers. First is money I mean to say Box office .I know a young film maker living in Salé who is  continuously cursing system by scorning official head masters of media .However, his rage is not translated in cinema. He is trapped into box offices headaches and of course the size of money that he can make out of it. Unless for example an Indian film maker , Yash Shopra,recently died  who works silently but makes controversial movies already marked in history of cinema of entertainmentnaming for example his beautiful film called  Veer-Zaarathat was successful to  unite two  struggling countries Pakistan and India. Because of this strong message of this film, frontiers between these two countries are open. From this context, I want our young people to use their rage in making cinema like the one of Shopra.

           The second thing that faces young people is creation or art. Art films are not easily made. But, creation can be fruitful if they work on it by hard work like reading international and national books, watching all kind of movies and discuss them with lucid and intelligent minds. Participating in film festivals can help to create criteria mind either in amateur film festival or professional one. Amateur film festival sometimes surprises us with introducing beautiful films. But if an amateur film festival intends only to make controversy or money then things become difficult. This happens Kalaat Des Sraghna Short Film Festival  with Mustapha Chaabi's short film called "Al Qods Abnadem" and my short film called" The will" that were selected in competition .At the end, when the jury presents awards, its head master Mohamed chwika states that our films named above can not be awarded because they are too professionals. Why do film festival director call professionals film makers then? What is the game? I can not get it.

I call all young people to work hard and start make movies using all sort of simple media tools that exist now in the market like I phone  cameras, simple editing sofwares, Cameras with SD or HD cards , using studio or artificial lightings if it is possible  especially write movies with the help professional actors and actresses and of course with film makers too. Insist to work and produce beautiful films especially filming our vision our dreams that still invade us whenever we are .This love of cinema and this rage in us will help us to refuse to be unproductive i mean to say to be old. 

Read More

Kenza friddou pop-art actress or forgotten playwright

Trained theatrically by Abdelmajid Fenniche in a millennium city called Salé;kenza still loves theatre and goes taking tremendous risks to meet simple Moroccan youth in Morocco.

This female called Kenza literary meaning treasure in Arabic, she moves benignly wears  Moroccan high class Kaftans  and puts  in her face human and warm smile that no other actress has .Her name is Kenza Friddou ,first script –girl in the history of Moroccan cinema; and she would love to play mysterious roles  like Aicha kandicha,Mi zhor , lady Macbeth , the smiling  lady at Douwar Micca in Salé and strange lady playing with Ahmed Tahcfine's movies,Shimi's adapted play  in Oujaa Trab, and the witch- dancer  in "The Will" by Allal El Alaoui"

Kenza Friddou is a popular lady who is a playwright, pop-art singer ,and good actress. She is keen to help in the sets of cinematic scenes where she performs her role with great honesty and devotion. She helps film makers and stage directors either in make –ups or script-techniques.kenza is now purchasing theatre-goers by making a tour around Moroccan towns ,villages and cities via her"Travelling theatre" Masrah Arrahal" from this sunday 16th of 2012.

Read More

Xenophobia in FIFM against Moroccan journalists

Beaten hard by French security guards at FIFM, Moroccan journalists, under the severe cold climate of the outside, protest with disgust about xenophobia in their own country. Neither Moroccan journalists nor artists are wanted to be seen in Marrakech; states an independent news maker; for Moroccan journalists to cover up daily news of this event called International film festival in Marrakech and for Moroccan artists just to show off and be proud  like their international colleagues.

Being cinema-goer, I joyfully phone friends since Rabatjust to see if things get better knowing that i have received the 2012 Marrakech accreditation but without permission to neither stay in FIFM hotels nor eat comfortable food like my fellow mates. Things I still can not believe about the policy of the foundation, although I am myself a film maker and also cinema blogger; having three professional cards one is confirmed by Nour-eddine sail, the second by Mustapha Khalfi and the third one by Faisal laraichi. 

From this context, sometimes we have that feeling we are watching an expensive carnival as Hassan benchalikha states. Too may critics have different views about the benefits and fruits that might gain Moroccan cinema to embrace Marrakech each year for its organization of this genre "A'  Festival especially expensive stars of seventh art from different countries come to our red city  where they find luxury bungalows and luxury hotels .Some ask where  money goes without return of tangible national cinema, while others think that the Film Festival of Marrakech open  opportunities to tourists in order to  invest in Morocco.

.

It is obvious that this festival allows cinema-goers to meet international producers, actors and film makers especially we have succeeded to seduce Bollyood to shoot its movies in Morocco (see my article on Morocco Bound To Hindi Cinema) .Now, we are happy that Moroccan cinema is strongly participating with two remarkable directors, the first one is Nabil Ayouch " Ya Khill Allah" and the second is Nour-eddine Lakhmari 'Zero". We really hope that FIFM promotes Moroccan cinema and that "film activity is real and not propaganda," that "the advancement of the CCM project should be the purpose and means to accomplish common productions, and build closer cooperation with other festivals, and exchange views at the global level.

Written by Allal El Alaoui 

Read More