A two-day film festival—to be held next week at Smith College—will screen films by and about Moroccan women.
The festival kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 2 with a screening of the documentary film All I Wanna Do by Michelle Medina ’05. The film follows the dreams of 48-year-old Simohamed, who works as a parking guard, and his 17-year-old son who acts in Hollywood films posing as a crippled Afghan boy or an Iraqi war victim. When the boy’s dreams of going to Hollywood are dashed, he turns to music and forms a hip hop group with his father, leaving the slum.
Born in the U.S. and raised in Japan, Michelle graduated with honors from Smith College, having written her thesis on identity and Moroccan women in cinema. She later returned to Morocco in 2005 after receiving a Fulbright Scholarship, and now works as a filmmaker and writer in Casablanca, Morocco. Following the screening of All I Wanna Do, Michelle will lead a discussion about her film and will introduce Farida Benlyazid’s feature film Door to the Sky, which begins at 8 p.m.
Both films will be shown in the Weinstein Auditorium. Refreshments will be provided by Amanouz Café.
The next day, Tuesday, April 3, will feature short films Arab Diaries: Home, or Maids in My Family beginning at 6:30 p.m., and Aisha at 7:30 p.m. Following the films, a pre-recorded Q&A session features Aisha directors Oshri Hayun and Hili Cohen. Both films will be shown in Stoddard Hall and Amanouz Café will provide refreshments.
Leave a Reply