Atlas Close-Ups
THE NOURS
Synopsis
Morocco, 1975. In the midst of the Cold War, a young Vietnamese man arrives at the port of Casablanca with his truck. The customs officers are intrigued, surprised by his Arabic name: Ahmed Nour. Suspicious, one of the officers decides to follow Ahmed, who claims to be looking for his father, a veteran of the Indochina wars, missing for three years. Together, they travel from Casablanca to the Atlas Mountains, discovering cultural similarities between Ahmed and Moroccans. Upon arriving in a village, Ahmed believes he has found the place where his father died, and is greeted with suspicion by a family who believes he has come to claim his inheritance.
Director’s statement
The Nours explores the journey of Ahmed Nour, a Vietnamese man in search of his father, in the historical context of colonial Morocco. Through his eyes, the film unveils the landscape of Morocco through deep family issues while addressing Ahmed's resilience and his budding relationship with his brother. The film’s art direction is inspired by Barry Levinson’s 'Rain Man' (1988). An authentic road trip, the film borrows narrative elements from Francis Ford Coppola’s 'The Godfather' (1972), using parallel montage to juxtapose Ahmed's present with his father's past as he discovers Vietnam in the midst of war.
This structure highlights the similarities between the personal quests of father and son. The cinematography evokes the aesthetics of the 1970s with bright colors, while the soundtrack features little-known artists from that era. The Nours is a testament to a meeting of three cultures—French, Moroccan, and Vietnamese—and illustrates that, despite their differences, deep ties can exist among disparate traditions.
Biographies
Yassine Iguenfer is a young director and producer from Tafraout, Morocco, who is passionate about cinema. After training in screenwriting with writer-director Mehdi Charef, he made his first short film, Verre vide, which won numerous awards and was selected for the Marché du Film of the Festival de Cannes in 2024. Deeply attached to his Moroccan roots, Iguenfer collaborates regularly with Caestus Films and directed Hicham (2023), which explores the career of Hicham El Guerrouj and that won the Grand Prix Filme l'avenir at the Cinébanlieue festival.
Moroccan producer El Mahdi Amsrouy developed a deep passion for cinema at a young age. In 2019, he fulfilled his ambition by co-founding Caestus Films, an audiovisual production company that quickly distinguished itself on the international stage. The works produced under his direction have won awards from numerous prestigious festivals around the world. Amsrouy is driven by the desire to share and promote the cultural diversity of his country to a global audience.
