Moroccan Film Series
Debuts at 2016 DTLA Film Festival, Sept. 21-28,
Presented by Toyota Mirai
First-Ever Program in Los Angeles Includes Said Khallaf’s ‘A Mile In My Shoes,’
Morocco’s Official Entry For 2017 Best Foreign Film Academy Award
All Screenings at Regal L.A. LIVE
LOS ANGELES – September 22, 2016 – The 8th annual DTLA Film Festival, presented by Toyota Mirai, welcomes another addition to its curated programming section: The newly established Moroccan Film Series, providing a showcase for indigenous cinematic talent from Morocco, a country that has been serving as Hollywood’s face of the Middle East for decades.
At the week-long 2016 DTLA Film Festival, which began on Wednesday at L.A. LIVE, Morocco will now be shown through the eyes of its native filmmakers, with five feature films and one short: Short Life by director Adil El Fadili, Small Pleasures by director Mohamed Chrif Tribak, Aida by director Driss Mrini, Behind Closed Doors by director Mohamed Ahed Bensouda, The Identity of a Front by director Hassan El Bouharrouti, and A Mile In My Shoes by director Said Khallaf — selected by Morocco as the country’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2017 Academy Awards.
The festival’s Moroccan series is the first series of films by Moroccan filmmakers ever presented in Los Angeles. It further manifests DTLAFF’s mission to introduce Los Angeles audiences to new cinema from around the world.
An expected crowd pleaser will surely be Morocco’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2017 Academy Awards, A Mile In My Shoes. Telling the touching story of a street youth, growing up, homeless, in the murder, mayhem and grinding poverty of an unforgiving city, Said Khallaf’s directorial debut has already won the Grand Prix, the most prestigious prize, at the 2016 Tangier International Film Festival, as well as the prizes for Best Actress (Rawia Ennaji) and Best Actor (Amine Ennaji) in a leading role.
Series curator Adel ElHardouzi promises the series will offer an illuminating perspective on Morocco and its film scene: “For decades, Morocco has served as a shooting location for Hollywood pictures and a stand-in for any film requiring a Middle East setting from Lawrence of Arabia to Mission Impossible 5. So, it is our great pleasure to present the first-ever showcase in Los Angeles of Moroccan cinema, which is ripe with indigenous filmmaking talent,” he said.
The complete Moroccan series line-up at a glance:
Features:
A Mile in My Shoes
narrative | Moroccan series | 110 mins. | directed by Said Khallaf
screens Sun., Sept. 25, 3:40 pm | Regal L.A. LIVE
The touching story of a street youth, growing up, homeless, in the murder, mayhem and grinding poverty of an unforgiving city.
Aida
narrative | Moroccan series | 110 mins. | directed by Driss Mrini
screens (in conjunction with short film Short Life) Thu., Sept. 22, 7:40 pm | Regal L.A. LIVE
In Morocco’s 2015 submission for the Academy Awards, Aida, a Paris-based Jewish music teacher battling a malignant tumor, returns home to Morocco in search of childhood memories and new reasons to hope. There, she reunites with her childhood love Youssef and an uneasy romance ensues.
Behind Closed Doors
narrative | Moroccan series | 100 mins. | directed by Mohammed Ahed Bensouda
screens Sun., Sept. 25, 12:05 pm | Regal L.A. LIVE
Samira is an attractive, young Moroccan woman happily married to a banker. Their lives are suddenly turned upside down when the company where Samira works appoints a new director who begins to harass her.
The Identity of a Front
documentary | 65 mins. | directed by Hassan El Bouharrouti
screens Sun., Sept. 25, 2:00 pm | Regal L.A. LIVE
A documentary shedding light on the geopolitical and geostrategic context of the Polisario Front’s genesis to better understand the ideology, support and actions by the separatist movement as well as inform the international public opinion about the truth of the artificial conflict over the Moroccan Sahara.
Small Pleasures
narrative | Moroccan series | 85 mins. | directed by Mohamed Chrif Tribak
screens Thu., Sept. 22, 5:40 pm | Regal L.A. LIVE
An intimate story about two girls on the verge of adulthood, a true Moroccan drama about love, traditions and envy.
Shorts:
Short Life
short narrative | Moroccan series | 10 mins. | directed by Adil El Fadili
screens (in conjunction with feature film Aida) Thu., Sept. 22, 7:40 pm | Regal L.A. LIVE
Zhar is a child born under the sign of misfortune and curse. His mother died giving him birth and this death raises many disasters, which will mark him permanently.
The 2016 DTLA Film Festival is presented by Toyota Mira. The festival is sponsored by Regal L.A. Live: A Barco Innovation Center, UCLA Extension, City Club Los Angeles, Mrs. Fish, Council District 14 – Jose Huizar | City of Los Angeles, 8th & Grand Luxury Apartments, The Park DTLA, Level Furnished Living, ChillHound, Los Angeles Times, BitTorrent Now, Metro, Wynning Touch Event Planning, Cloud 19, Fostered Productions, District Restaurant on the Bloc, 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizza, Little Easy, Down and Out, and Creative Handbook. The Moroccan Film Series is sponsored by Centre Cinématographique Marocain and Moroccan American Association of Los Angeles.
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Press Contact:
Alisse Kingsley
for DTLA Film Festival
alissethemuse@aol.com
Press Credentials:
To apply for press credentials for the 2016 DTLA Film Fest, contact info@dffla.com.
About DTLA Film Fest
The only major film festival in the Capital of Cool – downtown Los Angeles – DTLA Film Festival was established in 2008 as a showcase for independent cinema in the historic core of the Film Capital of the World. The festival embraces in its programming and mission the unique cultural, ethnic and gender diversity of downtown Los Angeles and its neighboring communities. DTLA Film Fest is produced annually by a nonprofit arts organization that is led by a volunteer group of filmmakers and community activists.