20th Century Women
118'
USA
IFFR 2017
Morocco is suffering an extreme drought, and a simple farming family tries to make ends meet. M’barek lives with his old father, his wife Aida and their son Ayoub on the same piece of land where his forefathers have worked for generations. He hopes to continue the tradition with the child that Aida is bearing; while she is very upset that he sees no future with their son Ayoub, an adolescent with Down’s syndrome. The parched land can hardly yield any crops so M’barek starts digging a well, convinced that he will strike a water reservoir.
His fruitless endeavours gradually become a metaphor for his attempts to get money to pay off his debt to the bank. If he doesn’t manage, the family is in danger of losing everything. The insecure, tense situation makes M’barek, Aida and Ayoub sorrowful, each in their own way, and they all express that in poetic voice-overs at various points in the film.
IFFR 2017