Morocco, Arabic, French - 75 min
Feature Documentary Film
TOTAL BUDGET
US $213,314
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $155,421
CONTACT
cinemaat@gmail.com
+212600598751
Our Dark 70s is an archival footage project that uncovers the artistic creativity of Morocco’s 70s. Through a collage technique, the film unearths the creativity of an era that has long been censored.
In Morocco, the seventies were the first time in its post-colonial history when struggles and dreams for change began to surface. Most importantly, this period saw the best in artistic and cultural production. Morocco had just recently gained independence, but it quickly became caught up in the power struggles of the Cold War. The new king, Hassan II, chose to award himself absolute power, putting in place an infernal system controlled by the army and the police, of which he was the supreme chief.
Before and during the colonial period, Moroccan artists were totally underexposed, except for musicians. For the first time, Moroccan art was the expression of a free individual will. At the same time, the rest of the world was experiencing a libertarian wave. A collective emulation took shape, made of dreams and projects that were intolerable for the despotic regime.
Our Dark 70s is an archival footage project that uncovers the artistic creativity of Morocco’s 70s. Assembling fragments of work—film, photography, music, theater plays, comic strips and more—with interviews of the protagonists, the film will tell the story of this very unique time in Morocco’s history, known as “the years of lead.” Through a collage technique, the film unearths the creativity of an era that has long been censored.
The content of the narrative does not seek to establish historical truth. Rather, it focuses on the human dimension and personal experiences. Even so, by relating their own stories, the characters bring us closer to the general atmosphere that weighed so heavily with the country.
Their stories are similar to hundreds of others, including the story of my elder brother. That is why I made the choice not to film the characters, and why I refrained from visualizing them. It’s the way I adopt to make sure that these particular accounts would be heard, also for being representative of the path of an entire generation, of an entire era! Their emphasized storytelling—through voice-over—strengthens their presence without disturbing the perception of the general context as conveyed by the other archival material.
The story evolves through a collage, connecting dreams to other dreams, and clashing the dreams with brutal realities. A multi-voice story that resembles a choral film. Voiceovers that seem to come from elsewhere; both real and ghostly. They are present without necessarily being visible, emerging and disappearing at the whim of events.
The archives serve as a main protagonist—they do not serve to illustrate the audio stories; I use them more as an additional narration track, which allows for a layered reading of the events. They are not shown in an objective context, and do not claim any historical objectivity.
We first discovered and admired Ali Essafi’s work back in 1997, with his film General, Here We Are!, a film about colonial veteran soldiers from the French army. We both come from French ex-colonies, have a shared history, and also had an immediate artistic connection. We dedicate ourselves to projects that focus on the transmission of oral memory, and challenge the usual clichés about southern countries.
2017: Crossing the Seventh Gate
2011: Wanted!, Casablanca en rouge
2010: Abdelkrim & the Rif War, Woujouh / Faces
2009: Ces mains-là / Those Hands
2008: Three Brothers