Atlas Close-Ups
Remontada
Synopsis
In Casablanca, on the day of Eid al-Adha, 13-year-old Ismaïl, a soccer prodigy with a promising professional career ahead of him, suffers a serious burn that jeopardizes his legs and his dreams. Hospitalized in a public facility, he endures pain and uncertainty while his middle-class parents struggle to provide him with the care he needs in a largely privatized healthcare system. Running parallel to Ismaïl’s story is the historic tale of the Moroccan team reaching the semifinals in the 2022 World Cup, a journey that resembles collective redemption. Through the eyes of a child, the film immerses the viewer in an intimate and universal story, oscillating between tragedy and self-mockery, in which the solidarity of a community becomes a force for survival. Remontada is a social comedy-drama about resilience, transmission, and the ability to reinvent one's future.
Nel Films (Morocco)
Nour-Eddine Lakhmari
Director’s statement
Casablanca. Eid al-Adha, 1998: I am 10 years old and I go out into the neighborhood to take part in the community barbecue. An accident leaves me with severe burns on both legs. After being turned away by a private clinic due to lack of funds, I spend the entire summer—the summer of the 1998 World Cup—in a public hospital to have my injuries treated and, eventually, to undergo a skin graft operation. What should have been a day of celebration turned into the most painful day of my life. Remontada, my first feature-length film project, is an intimate social drama set in contemporary Morocco, at the crossroads of a failing healthcare system, the precariousness of the middle class, the invisible violence of the world of work (whether salaried or self-employed), and the spirit of community and solidarity within families and neighborhoods.
Biographies
Moroccan-Canadian writer-director Reda Lahmouid was born in Casablanca in 1988. With degrees in communication and screenwriting, he has spent the last 10 years working in advertising, music videos, and short fiction films. An avid admirer of painter Abbès Saladi, writer Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine, and the Raja Casablanca football club, Lahmouid is currently developing Remontada, his first feature-length fiction film.
Nour-Eddine Lakhmari est l’un des réalisateurs majeurs du cinéma marocain contemporain. Après des débuts remarqués en Norvège avec des courts métrages primés et son premier long Le Regard (2005), il s’impose avec CasaNegra (2009), succès critique et public, représentant du Maroc aux Oscars. Suivent Zéro (2013) et Burnout (2017), tous deux largement distingués et plébiscités, avant de présenter Mira, son dernier long métrage à Marrakech. Avec sa société Nel Films, il développe également des projets ambitieux, contribuant à inscrire le cinéma marocain sur la scène internationale.
Mid 2027
Mid 2028
