ASFF Extra Credit - Option 1

ASFF: Short Film Screenings

The first event that I attended was the screening of the short film festivals. The night started with the showings of the documentary features, followed by the fiction features. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and the creativity that was displayed. The documentary subjects were all very touching, and I liked the diversity of the subjects going from electronic festivals to hacking to an orphanage to the individual personal journeys of people.

I was very proud of what AUIers made and particularly of Soulaima’s documentary, especially because she was actually my teammate all throughout the introduction to filmmaking class that we took, so seeing her progress from the beginning was great. I thought her documentary was the best story-wise.

The fiction short films also showcased the talent of young filmmakers in Morocco, who were able to tell great stories with such a limited budget and time length. I especially noticed the influence of Western ideas from Western productions, but I thought they were well-adapted to the Moroccan context in general. 

Overall, I thought this event was very successful.

ASFF: Burnout Screening

The next event I attended was the screening of Noureddine Lakhari's movie, Burnout, followed by a discussion with the director and some of the actors.
The movie was great, and followed Lakhmari's tradition of telling individual stories of pain and tragedy with Casablanca as a backdrop. Although this movie was certainly more daring than his previous ones, it is consistent with Moroccan filmmakers pushing away from the limits of censorship more and more.
I also noticed here the pattern of depicting the rich, privileged elite of Casablanca as living like Westerners, using foreign cars, displaying foreign art, and speaking French almost exclusively, while the working class was the one depicted as speaking the local language, wearing traditional clothes, and listening to local music. This movie did not shy away from showing the huge influence of the West in what our society considers as "high class" culture.
I really enjoyed the talk after the movie, and getting the opportunity to hear about the behind-the-scenes feelings and impressions of the cast while filming the movie, and after its reception by the Moroccan public. It was also a very important discussion when it concerns the state of Moroccan cinema.