Throughout its 29th edition (November 8 to 16), the International Festival of auteur cinema de Rabat (FICAR) offered an eclectic selection of films from here and elsewhere. Faithful to its tradition, it has honored singular voices, tackling subjects as diverse as social struggles, individual introspection, or even the challenges of our time.
Among the feature films presented as part of the International Competition, there is the Mexican fiction “Dirty“. After the murder of a small-time cartel henchman, his beloved four-year-old son “Sujo” finds himself orphaned and in danger. The little boy narrowly escapes death thanks to the help of his aunt who raises him in an isolated countryside, amid hardship, poverty and the constant peril associated with his identity. As he enters adolescence, a rebellion awakens within him and, as a rite of passage, he joins the local cartel. As a young man, “Sujo” attempts to rebuild his life, far from the violence of his hometown. However, when his father’s legacy catches up with him, he comes face to face with what seems to be his destiny.
From Tunisia, the Festival proposed “The Needle” (Al Ibra). In this work of Abdelhamid Bouchnaka conservative couple eagerly awaits the arrival of their long-awaited child. During an ultrasound, they discover that their baby is hermaphroditic, that is to say intersexual. The doctor informs them that they have three days to decide the sex of their child. The couple’s decisions are shared as they navigate the complexities of social, religious and medical orientations.
The couple must deal with the social consequences their child could face if he or she does not conform to the traditional binary gender norms that prevail in Tunisian society. Concerns about stigma and potential ostracism weigh heavily on their minds.
The FICAR International Competition also included a Moroccan-American film: “The Lost Princess” by Hicham Hajji. This third film from the Moroccan director tells the unique story of Alec Touati who discovers his true destiny when he comes across a haunted castle where a tragic love story takes place. With the help of Nassim and Hana, he fights to protect the castle’s legacy and fulfill his ancestral goal. The cast of the film shot in Ouarzazate brings together international and Moroccan actors such as Robert Kneper, Eric Roberts, Melody Casta, Gary Dourdan, Yousra Bouhmouch, Sahar El Maataoui, Mourad Zaoui and others.
From Italy, the Festival presented “Taxi Monamour”. For 122 minutes, director Ciro De Caro invites us to follow Anna (Rosa Palasciano), a fairly confused woman who only gets along well with her brother Angelo (Valerio Di Benedetto), who is also discredited by their mother and older brother. . One evening, while waiting for a bus that does not pass, she meets Cristi (Yeva Sai), a young Ukrainian woman, also without means of transport to return. Two young people in a car offer to take them home, they accept, but refuse their advances. The next evening, Anna voluntarily drives back to the bus stop where Cristi is waiting. She takes her home. Cristi, who in reality is called Nadia, is very reserved and defensive, the complete opposite of Anna, but between the two women a beautiful friendship is gradually born, destined not to last, because Nadia wants to return to her country where war rages.
Through these diverse and deeply human stories, the Rabat International Festival of Auteur Cinema continues to prove that cinema, well beyond entertainment, is a powerful mirror of the realities and complexities of our world. By highlighting works that question, move and shake up, this 29th edition asserts itself as an unmissable event for lovers of the seventh art and defenders of committed cinema.
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