Morocco film festival pays tribute to 'Arab Spring'

Not only did Arab uprisings bring about changes in politics, but they triggered a cinema revolution, which was the focus of a recent Casablanca event.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Casablanca – 26/06/11

For five days, Moroccan and foreign cinema fans enjoyed an inspiring showcase of movies devoted to the 'Arab Spring'.

The sixth round of the International Short and Documentary Film Festival in Casablanca, which ended on Sunday (June 19th), featured twenty films from Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon and Europe.

"We did not want the current edition of the festival, which coincides with Arab popular upheavals, to pass without dedicating seminars to the topic, at a time when there are movies that inspire a revolution, such as 'Heya Fawda' (Chaos)," event director Mohamed El Mouchtary told Magharebia.

"There is no doubt that the seventh art was influenced by the revolutions, especially real-life cinema that portrays the true image of our societies," he added.

Said Belli, a participating Moroccan director, told Magharebia: "The impact of revolutions on cinema is inevitable, as the latter portrays aspects of the reality we live in. I believe cinema will take a different route in Arab countries, whereby it will portray people's suffering more accurately. It is normal for the cinema to be influenced by what is taking place in Arab countries."

For his part, Egyptian film-maker Samir Seif said that Arab uprisings would "serve to expand the extent of the freedom of expression in cinema, as those revolutions set people free, launch numerous trends and promote the freedom of expression".

"Naturally, it will reflect on the future films," he added. "Additionally, the values upheld by the revolutions, such as justice, citizenship and progress, will impact the new movies yet to be released."

Cinema is not only influenced by the current developments, Seif said; it can also shape the course of events. "It indirectly raises people's awareness and their sense of injustice. It is the job of art to contribute to people's awareness of what is going on around them."

"There must be a drama revolution alongside the people's revolution, with minimum censorship and maximum freedom of expression," Lebanese director Seba Rifai told Magharebia. "Naturally, newly-released movies are bound to be better than the previous ones. Censorship used to pressure film-makers. There was not much scope for creativity. Makers of the seventh art could not express everything they wished for in their movies."

Najib Kettani, who heads Organization Maroc Afrique, underlined that spotlighting the relationship between cinema and uprisings "reflects the interest of citizens of the Arab region in general, and the Maghreb, in particular, who want to live and enjoy stability and development in a democratic climate".

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/06/26/feature-01.