Atlas Close-Ups
FATWA
Synopsis
Nadia is a documentary filmmaker based in Andalusia. Of Spanish and Moroccan heritage, she embarks on a trip to volunteer in Morocco after undergoing a personal crisis. Upon arriving at the Red Moon headquarters, she encounters a group of volunteers from various countries and travels with a caravan to a remote, conservative village in Morocco, where nothing ever seems to happen and the marriage of young Batool and Bashir is the event of the year. The caravan arrives, intent on providing a space to offer sex education, which Nadia leads. The presence of the caravan interrupts the villagers’ routine and divides them into two camps, leading to a confrontation and putting the long-awaited wedding at risk. In parallel, Nadia is on her own journey, getting closer to her origins and starting to believe in love again thanks to Khaled, a teacher who has just arrived in the village.
Berebera Films (Spain)
Ana Rodriguez Rosell
Director’s statement
In many Moroccan villages, marriage is a family affair in which parents have the final say. They choose the future husband or wife for their child. In this case, Batoul and Bachir are in love, and everyone wants their marriage but, when circumstances change and the parents come face to face with each other under the influence of an Imam, the wedding is no longer possible. The influence of the Imam is very strong, and extremists are spreading hate speech and attempting radicalisation via social media networks used by educated youth. Meanwhile, Spanish-Moroccan Nadia, who runs the village's sex education caravan, is the protagonist who witnesses the situation with her own camera. The film aims to shed light on the condition of women in rural areas.
Biographies
Mohamed El Badaoui was born in Al Hoceima, Morocco, in 1979. A director and producer, he studied screenwriting, production, and directing in Madrid. His first feature-length fiction film, Solei-man (2012), a self-financed co-production between Morocco and Spain, had its premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival. In 2014, he founded Apostrophe Films in Rabat, with the aim of co-producing feature films internationally. In 2016, he shot Palestine, which premiered on Amazon Prime. In 2018, he shot Lalla Aicha, starring Angela Molina, which premiered at the Marrakech International Film Festival.
Ana Rodriguez Rosell is a Spanish producer based in Madrid. Over the last 10 years, she has produced a number of feature-length fiction films, including Looking for Eimish (2012) with Emma Suarez and Oscar Jaenada, selected for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Falling (2017), a co-production of Spain, Morocco, and the Dominican Republic was selected for festivals including the Bogotá International Film Festival and the Rabat International Festival of Film. Among others, she has co-produced several films by Mohamed El Badaoui, including Solei-man (2012), Palestine (2017), and Lalla Aicha (2019).
