Cinema
The Barber of the Poor District
حلاق درب الفقراء
Mohamed Reggab · 1982
Synopsis
Miloud is a barber in Derb Soltane, an old working-class district of Casablanca, and strives to keep a semblance of dignity there by accepting his lot. His friend Hmida, who came from the countryside after being disowned by his father, lives on petty thefts that have already sent him to prison; jobless but full of energy, he keeps telling him that struggle is the only quality of a dignified man, and Miloud worries about his schemes. When a rich contractor who rules the district gets the barber and his wife evicted in order to build a Koranic school, Hmida urges his friend to fight back.
Context
The film adapts a play by Youssef Fadel, a dramatist and novelist born in Derb Soltane, imprisoned according to the Arsenal for another of his plays; Fadel wrote the screenplay. Reggab produced it with Akouri and operated the camera himself. Presented at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes in 1983, it was shown again at the national festival in Tangier in 2008 among the Moroccan classics, then at the Berlinale Forum in 2017. Mohamed Boualem, in L'Almaghreb culturel of 18 October 1982, welcomed its use of popular literature.
Who it is for
A feature film in Arabic, in colour, of 110 minutes; it is available as video on demand from LaCinetek.
Prizes and reception
Special mention at the first National Film Festival, in Rabat, in 1982; it has become a cult film in Morocco.
Sources for this page 3
The pages consulted to check this page.