Screening Morocco: Contemporary Film in a Changing Society (Volume 89) (Ohio RIS Africa Series)

Since 1999 and the death of King Hassan II, Morocco has experienced a dramatic social transformation. Encouraged by the more openly democratic climate fostered by young King Mohammed VI, filmmakers have begun to explore the sociocultural and political debates of their country while also seeking to document the untold stories of a dark past. __Screening Morocco: Contemporary Film in a Changing Society__ focuses on Moroccan films produced and distributed from 1999 to the present. Moroccan cinema serves as an all-inclusive medium that provides a sounding board for a society that is remaking itself. Male and female directors present the face of an engaged, multiethnic and multilingual society. Their cinematography promotes a country that is dynamic and connected to the global sociocultural economy of the twenty-first century. At the same time, they seek to represent the closed, obscure past of a nation’s history that has rarely been told, drawing on themes such as human rights abuse, the former incarceration of thousands during the Lead Years, women’s emancipation, poverty, and claims for social justice. __Screening Morocco__ will introduce American readers to the richness in theme and scope of the cinematic production of Morocco. Orlando (French and Francophone literature, U of Maryland) analyzes several Moroccan films produced and distributed from 1999 to 2010, a period of political and social transformation in Morocco. Since the death of King Hassan II in 1999, filmmakers have been free to create films that in the past would have been suppressed. The introduction covers Moroccan history beginning with the colonial and post-colonial period, as well as a history relating specifically to cinema. Orlando shows how the current Moroccan cinematography reveals a dynamic, connected, and modern country with a rich, complex, and obscured past. The films she examines deal both with the past and with contemporary life, including issues around women, poverty, and social justice. This book would be of interest to anyone studying Morocco, women's studies, Francophone studies, or film. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Contents 8 Illustrations 10 Preface 12 Acknowledgments 22 Introduction: Moroccan National Cinema 24 1: Theories and Polemics 42 2: Issues, Contexts, and “Culture Wars” 60 3: Bad Boys, Drugs, and Rock ’n’ Roll 94 4: Prison, Torture, and Testimony 124 5: Women’s Voices 145 Conclusion: The Future of Moroccan Cinema? 177 Notes 186 Selected Filmography of Moroccan Feature-Length Films: 1999–2008 198 Bibliography 202 Index 208 Theories and polemics: Moroccan films as social-realist texts Issues, contexts, and "culture wars": Marocains residants é l'etranger (MREs) versus filmmakers at home Bad boys, drugs, and rock 'n' roll: the urban stories of Morocco Prison, torture, and testimony: retelling the memories of the lead years Women's voices: documenting Morocco through feminine lenses Conclusion: the future of Moroccan cinema?