Cinema
The Mirage
السراب
Ahmed Bouanani · 1979
Synopsis
In French protectorate Morocco, Mohamed, a poor peasant, lives off food handouts; his wife works in a French household. One day, he finds a wad of banknotes in the bag of flour he has brought home. To change this unexpected fortune, he goes to the city, Salé according to the Arsenal, but nobody is willing to believe a man so wretched; there he meets swindlers, soothsayers and preachers, flees the boots of the colonial troops and loses himself among ruins, caves and vaults, while his wife seeks happiness in the city on her own.
Context
The film was produced by the Moroccan Cinema Centre, with Basma Production according to the Arsenal; its author wrote the screenplay and did the editing, with Abdellah Bayahia behind the camera, and the songs are by Houcine Slaoui. According to Christoph Terhechte, the filmmaker insisted on shooting it in black and white despite strong resistance, and made no other film, prevented by the political constraints of the Years of Lead. Shown again at the Berlinale Forum in 2017, it was restored in 4K from the 35 mm elements and screened in Bristol in 2026.
Who it is for
A feature film in Moroccan Arabic, in black and white, 100 minutes long; restored, it now circulates at heritage festivals.
Prizes and reception
Four prizes at the first National Film Festival, in Rabat, in 1982, and chosen in Dubai in 2013 among the hundred most important Arab films.
Sources for this page 3
The pages consulted to check this page.