Le mirage

Ahmed Bouanani is considered highly influential in the Moroccan cinema, but he never reached large audiences beyond the ‘Maghreb’ context. Following his death in 2011, it turned out his archive contained often unreleased literary material. Posthumously, his oeuvre is still developing. His feature film Le mirage has not been screened very often. It catches the eye by its experimental yet accessible style, characterised by cinematographic modernism, references to North African oral traditions and poetical dialogues, while Bouanani’s background as a writer and a poet clearly resonates.
The story comprises a mystical fable about a poor peasant who finds a pile of money and labyrinthically proceeds to have various encounters with musicians, magicians and other playful characters. The film was shot in austere black-and-white, rich in contrast, and yet offers a colourful and above all entertaining, occasionally circus-like Felliniesque, tragicomedy full of musical intermezzi.
Le mirage is part of an exhibition of the archive of Ahmed Bouanani, I want to possess in this world that which brings joy to the eyes…, running until the 21st of September at Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam.
For more information: www.wdw.nl.