aiff_program09_interior.xp 3/2/09 3:55 PM Page 45
Marrakech Inshallah Paper Covers Rock
90 minutes a73 2007 a73 USA/Morocco a73 In Competition 92 minutes a73 2008 a73 USA a73 In Competition
Friday 9:40a
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Saturday 12:10p
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Sunday 12:10p
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Monday 12:10p Friday 9:30p
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Saturday 9:30p
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Sunday 6:30p
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Monday 10:00a
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Directors/Producers/Screenwriters/ Cinematographers: Christian Pierce, Steffen Pierce a73 Director/Screenwriter/Producer: Joe Maggio a73 Executive Producer: Matthew Myers a73
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Editors: Brad Anderson, Christian Pierce, Steffen Pierce a73 Narrator: Aziz Raddad a73 Principal Producer: Clint Jordan a73 Cinematographer: Sam Shinn a73 Editor: Seth E. Anderson a73
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Cast: Fatima El Ghali, Steffen Pierce, Aziz Raddad, Hammadi Raddad, Moulay Hachem Music/Composer: Sam Bisbee a73 Principal Cast: Tom Brangle, Clint Jordan, Jeannine Kaspar,
tures
Raddad, Hammu Zerwal a73 arabfilm.com Sayra Player a73 ifcfilms.com
Loosely translated, the title means “Marrakech, God Willing”. Sam has fallen hard and is trying to find her way back to some
This documentary-style film follows Hammadi and his young kind of peace. She is a troubled young woman who loses
brother, Aziz, as they set out in search of a life that offers more custody of her six year-old daughter in the wake of an
than the slow and repetitive rhythms of their rural village in unsuccessful suicide attempt. After two months in a psychiatric
Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. Hammadi leaves first and facility, Sam moves in with her older sister, Ed, who graciously
eventually, Aziz can’t resist and follows his brother to the city offers to help Sam piece her life back together. But the road to
of Marrakech. hell is paved with good intentions, and it’s not at all clear
whether Ed is out to save, or destroy, her little sister—or
By the time Aziz finally finds Hammadi, he is distant and
whether Sam even wants to survive.
distracted. Aziz is entranced by the television screens, offering
a vision of the bright life he longs to find in Marrakech. But all Shot over ten days for $6,000, the film is the first of ten films
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the brothers encounter is the endless drone of the city with its that director Joe Maggio calls “incidental films”. The concept
congested traffic, snake charmers and thieves. The fate of the comes with only one rule: “that no creative decision be made
brothers is in question as we are drawn into the poverty, the based on future commercial considerations, such as securing
magic and the struggles as their lives are torn between the distribution or protecting the film’s budget”. [adult content,
traditions of the past and encroaching Western consumer language]
values. [subtitles, violence]
Joe Maggio
Christian Pierce, Steffen Pierce
Director’s Statement
Directors’ Statement
Prior to the shoot, rehearsals were
One of the reasons for making this film is to allow western infrequent and relatively informal. Mostly
audiences to see through the eyes of these young men living on we just talked about the characters, our
the streets of Marrakech. Instead of seeing poverty as an own lives, the war in Iraq, etc. My only
unfortunate event that happens to other people in the third demand was that the actors show up on
world, part of the effort of this film is to try to put the viewer in time and know their lines. We would discover the rest when it
their shoes. really counted—on location with the camera and sound rolling.
The crew would consist of a single cameraman. I would record
Another thing that affected the making of the film was the
my own sound. The atmosphere would be quiet, calm and
writings of Paul Bowles and two other writers, Mohammed
dignified. We would take our time, eat well and do great work.
Choukri and Mohammed Marbet. Their writing is very much
about not just the poverty of Moroccan life, but also the issues Overall, the production experience was intimate, often quiet,
of fate. Many of the stories Paul Bowles wrote are very much but rarely calm. I yelled a lot and vowed on a daily basis that I
about that—not just the literary ideas, but the actual ideas that would never again do another no-budget film. Too many
peoples’ lives are already fated through tragedy or success and creative compromises, and who goes to see movies without
that you’re blessed or fated to live a tragic life. stars anymore? Simply put, we do the best we can with what
we’ve got.
Filmography: The Bride Market of Imilchil, Meeting Paul Bowles
Filmography: Milk + Honey, Virgil Bliss
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