Young Moroccan fisherman Fettah feels lost between two worlds; his poor yet familiar village on the Atlantic coast and the exciting world of the rich European tourists who come there every summer to surf. One summer, he befriends Alexandra (Thekla Reuten). Once she has left, Fettah feels more than ever like a prisoner in the village. He decides to go to Europe – on his surfboard. It is a long, hazardous and lonely journey, 300 miles across the open sea. Every wave brings new doubts and dangers. His dreams and memories start to play with him. Every day, the horizon is still just as far away. The stunning scenes in the open ocean are convincing in their beauty, but also because both the director and the principal actor, champion windsurfer Fettah Lamara, are devotees of the sport. The screenplay is partly based on Van Ewijk’s own experiences in the small fishing village and windsurfer’s paradise of Moulay Bouzerktoun in Morocco. With IFFR Live screening on Sat 24-1.
Film details
Productielanden
Belgium, Germany, Morocco, Netherlands
Jaar
2014
Festivaleditie
IFFR 2015
Lengte
89'
Medium/Formaat
DCP
Taal
Arabic, French
Première status
European premiere
Director
Jan-Willem van Ewijk
Producer
Bero Beyer, Jan-Willem van Ewijk, Marion Hänsel, Fabian Massah
Screenplay
Jan-Willem van Ewijk, Abdelhadi Samih
Cinematography
Jasper Wolf
Music
Mourad Belouadi, Piet Swerts
Principal cast
Thekla Reuten, Fettah Lamara
Sound design
Christian Monheim, Franco Piscopo, Gervaise Demeure
Production company
Augustus Film, Propellor Film, Man's Films Productions, Endorphine Production