Films in shooting or post-production
Don't Let the Sun Go Up On Me
Synopsis
Born with a rare genetic disorder that prevents exposure to the sun, Fatimazahra lives at night with the Children of the Moon, a community of young adults who, like her, cannot go out during the day. Each night, they meet online to share their lives and dreams, sheltered from the world. Fatimazahra’s father, Habib, filmed her from her birth in 1992 until 2006, capturing her transformation between shadow and light. In 2017, filmmaker Asmae El Moudir met Habib in a shop while he was trying to digitize the family home videos and offered her help. Discovering the incredible archives, she began documenting the daily life of Fatimazahra, her family, and her community. After her passing in 2023, her sister Meriem carries Fatimazahra’s dreams forward and, with six Children of the Moon, they venture to Norway’s Lofoten Islands to live under the polar night, experiencing a world without sun, sharing joy, love, and freedom.
Hatem Nachi
Nadia Ben Rachid
Insight Films (Morocco)
Asmae El Moudir
Haut et Court Doc (France)
Emma Lepers
Ström Pictures (Denmark)
Monica Hellström
Autlook Filmsales (Austria)
Stephanie Fuchs
Haut et Court (France)
Laurence Petit
Director’s statement
Since the beginning of my career as a writer and filmmaker, I have sought to bring hidden stories to light, marginal or overlooked narratives that resonate with the intimate. My previous film, The Mother of All Lies, explored the silences within family bonds—between memory, denial, and transmission. Don’t Let the Sun Go Up On Me continues this approach, focusing on a community literally forced into the shadows: the Children of the Moon. Through their story, this film examines the mourning of those we cannot forget or accept losing. It is also a manifesto of resilience and creativity, carried by powerful figures and a sensitive gaze on what it means to live differently. The film explores the private world of a marginalized community while reflecting on broader questions of inclusion, resilience, and the ways in which individuals can invent alternative forms of life when society imposes limits on them.
Biographies
Moroccan film director, screenwriter, and producer Asmae El Moudir studied at La Fémis in Paris and has directed several award-winning short films. The Mother of All Lies (2023), her first feature-length theatrical documentary, had its premiere at the Festival de Cannes, where it won the Un Certain Regard Directing Prize as well as the Œil d’or for Best Documentary. It was also the first Moroccan film to win the Étoile d’Or at the Marrakech International Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
After founding the independent French documentary production company Petit Dragon in 2005, in 2020 Emma Lepers partnered with Carole Scotta, who founded Haut et Court in 1992, to establish Haut et Court Doc. Since its inception, the company has focused on developing and producing contemporary, unconventional films by talented and passionate directors, earning numerous awards at festivals worldwide and solidifying Emma as a key figure in contemporary documentary cinema.
CCM, Red Sea Film Fund, Catapult Film Fund, Women Make Movies, OIF, Hot Docs, Al Jazeera Doc, IMS, Institut français du Maroc, AFAC
May 2027
