Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000) User Reviews

An Honest and Graphic Look At Children's Lives In An Alternate World

[museumofdave · 7/10 · 24 May 2013]

When I hear some petulant tot in the Safeway market candy section whining because he can't have two candy bars, I want to plop the spoiled child in front of this film for about five minutes, which would be quite enough.

Director Ayouch mixes elements of children's stark gang life in modern day Casablanca with the hallucinatory dreams they have, and he creates a harsh and vivid tale built around three close pals who decide they must give their most recently murdered friend a decent burial--he was, after all their Prince, their leader, their compatriot. This may not sound like the stuff movie dreams are made of, and its not exactly a cheerer-upper, but the young actors are astoundingly real--and sometimes quite funny--and the willing viewer can be transported to another world within a world unlike anything you might find in Iowa

This is memorable film-making, examining a particular time and place-- in this case the Middle East--for it's universal elements; it isn't anywhere near the sweetness and light of The Sound of Music, but is perhaps a more honest immersion in human behavior.

"The whole world will cry..."

[poe426 · 7/10 · 25 September 2007]

Life sometimes is a four-letter word. (More often than not.) The "enfant ensemble" in ALI ZAOUA couldn't be more perfectly cast (in view of the facts, in fact, better casting would be literally impossible). The nighttime musings of these kids as they drift off to sleep in the movie says it all: "When I'm dead, I'll be filthy rich." As mentioned elsewhere in these comments, I used to drive a cab. One night, I picked up a woman and three kids and took them from a very, very dangerous neighborhood to a slightly less lethal locale. The woman asked me to wait and left the kids in the cab with me as she ducked into a house. I waited (somewhat impatiently) and listened to the kids talking in the seat behind me. They spoke in awed whispers. "What does it look like?" "It's big- about this big." "What's it taste like?" "You'll see." I found myself grinding my teeth in anger. The woman emerged from the house and asked me if I could just wait a minute longer, that "he" was "on his way." I reluctantly agreed, but vowed that I would take my dispatcher to task for sending me on yet another drug run. The next thing I know, a pizza delivery driver pulls up. The woman rushes to him, pays him for two pizzas, and climbs back into the cab with them. I drive her back to her own neighborhood and ask her why she had the pizza delivered to another neighborhood. "Because the pizza guys won't deliver in our neighborhood." There are times, I swear, when it all gets to me. If you get a chance, see ALI ZAOUA and see what I mean.

It's magic! It's neorealism! It's magic neorealism!! With misogyny, too!!!

[fablesofthereconstru-1 · 8/10 · 30 July 2008]

Such lies my boy tells, thinks the prostitute, as Ali's mother watches her son fabricate a story about how she wanted to sell his eyes to a local television crew, who's there in the trenches of the Casablancan streets to film a documentary on runaways. But an impostor is among the glue-sniffers, thieves, and hanger-ons. Ali is their spokesperson, ironically enough, since the boy has his own room he can return to any time he likes, with a bed and clean sheets, a radio that plays cassettes, and a grateful parent who will tuck him in at night. When the female reporter asks where her mother is, Ali(Abdelhak Zhayra) stares into the camera and declares the whore dead.

Soon after the interview, Ali is struck down by an errant rock, this fatal throw, nothing but senseless payback for leaving a brethren of nihilistic street urchins(their rally cry, "Life is a pile of s***!"), led by an older mute boy who's like the Pied Piper of Sodomy. Left behind to contemplate the simple truth of Ali's sudden, untimely death, Omar(Mustapha Hansali), Boubker(Hitchama Moussone), and Kwita(Mournim Kbab) burden themselves with the responsibility of burying their crestfallen friend, while trying to stay above ground themselves on the streets of Morrocco.

Told in the film language of Italian neorealism, "Ali Zaoua" contains a number of fantasy sequences, in which Ali's dream to be a sailor is kept alive by Kwita, who adopts the seafaring journey to an island in the sky as his own. "Ali Zaoura" affixes brief animated interludes onto the urban landscape(i.e. a billboard with a woman's face) as a projection of Kwita's dream to sail away with a pretty schoolgirl he worships from afar. In one scene, he plays both sides of a conversation while she stands next to flowers reconstituted as a line drawing. By combining realism with fantasy, "Ali Zaoua" tell its gritty story of street life in amalgam. Magic neorealism is the guiding principle and testament to the indomitable spirit of a boy who staves off the hard facts about the bleak prospects that life has in store for him, by doggedly persisting that his dreams can be made corporeal. In a crucial scene that underscores the filmic poetics at work here, the boys encounter an improbable painting that depicts Ali's nautical voyage to an island, like hieroglyphics from the afterlife, inside a "cave" that had previously housed the boy's lifeless body, while they wait out the cops' raid of their makeshift shelter on the pier above them.

Kwita wants all of Morocco to remember his fallen friend, but Ali is far from being a heroic figure if you remove him from the context of the film's patriarchial ideology. Earlier in the film, when the boys are discovered spying on Ali's mother while she entertains her john, the prostitute expresses her dismay about her son's words on TV. Even though Ali was well-taken care of, he couldn't handle the shame of walking around his neighborhood with a whore. In keeping with Muslim tradition, it is verboten for women to initiate sex, even though the brand of Islam that's practiced in Morocco is considerably less strict than in other parts of the world. In another scene, Omar finally works up the courage to tell Ali Zaoua's mother(Amal Ayouch) that her son died, and returns her son's compass, a navigating gadget that is, metaphorically speaking, a moral compass. Now that she owns the device that served Ali so well, its arrow will point her in the right direction, too. The invitation to Ali's funeral that's extended to the prostitute is like a punishment for her sinful transgressions. It's her fault that Ali ran away. It's her fault that he's dead.

Although "Ali Zaoub" seems sanctimoniously calibrated against the prerogative of women to survive, there's no denying the film's ability to engage its audience in the lives of these lonely children.

A powerful and realistic film despite being a bit too sentimental at times

[bob the moo · 22 February 2005]

Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are runaways living rough on the streets of Morocco. Having split from the gang of the much older Dib because of being raped, the four live at the port, where Ali dreams of becoming a sailor because of the stories his mother used to tell him years before. When Dib and his gang turn up looking for a fight, Ali is truck with a rock and dies soon after. His friends plan to bury him but it is not long before the stresses start to break them apart; Kwita starts working with the sailor who had taken Ali in while Omar visits Ali's prostitute mother for the first of several times.

I'm not sure why I happened to end up watching this film but I am glad that I did because the story is not one that you hear often enough – that of the many kids who live on the streets of third world cities. Here the story is set about the friends trying to bury Ali in a manner that is fitting the dreams he had when he was alive but the film uses this to also show us the world of poverty, fear and abuse that street kids suffer. It is this aspect that kept me interested and it is depressing and rather powerful. The main story has a tendency towards a sentimentality that I suspect the street has little room for in reality. In my case though I was into the characters enough to be able to forgive this although you can't help feeling that the dark touches are really more of these kids' lives than just the mentions that the script gives them.

What really makes the film work though is the natural and convincing performances from the majority of the cast. Hansali won it for me because he seems so very beaten and totally convincing. Kbab seems less at home on the street but has more character and more maturity; meanwhile Moussoune is heartbreaking as the youngest of the group. Taghmaoui's Dib is pretty poor and is written as a basic Fagin character and he is not as exploitative and abusive as the script implies that he is. However the lead actors carry it and they are depressingly convincing.

Overall this is a great little film that manages to cover its weaknesses with its strengths and delivers a depressing tale even if it does tend to be a bit too sentimental for its own good. If nothing else it adds to the profile of a problem as is as complex as it is hopeless.

An Unforgettable Very Sensitive and Moving Low Budget Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 10/10 · 10 July 2004]

In the streets of Casablanca, the homeless boys Kwita, Omar and Boubker, leaded by Ali Zaoua, the son of a prostitute, leave the gang of Dib. The dream of Ali is to become a sailor and navigate with his mother to an isolated island with two suns. However, the four friends are attacked by Dib's gang and Ali dies, hit by a stone on the head. Kwita, Omar and Boubker hide the body in a hole, while trying to get money for a special funeral for the `prince' Ali. This movie is one the most sensitive and moving stories I have ever seen, comparable to the 1950 Luis Buñuel's masterpiece `Los Olvidados' and 1981 Hector Babenco's `Pixote: A Lei do Mais Fraco'. Indeed, it is a low budget movie, supported by outstanding director and infantile cast and a wonderful and never corny story. It is impossible not having the emotions affected or even cry with such a beautiful conclusion of a marvelous drama. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): `As Ruas de Casablanca' (`The Streets of Casablanca')

Even better than "City of God!"

[turkam · 10/10 · 17 February 2004]

This is an amazing film. It has to be up there with "City of God" and "Pixote" (Brazil), "At- The Horse" (Turkey), "Saalam Bombay" (India) and "Amores Perros" (Mexico) as well as the American documentary "Streetwise" as one of the best contemporary movies about poverty and the social repression and horrors it brings to its subjects. The film is engrossing, captivating, disturbing and harrowing on many levels. The film is also a remarkable fusion of Godard, gangster films and "Arabian Nights." A shocking thing happens to the film's title character at the outset of the film, and we are transported into a world that is both enchating and perilous as if we are traveling with Sinbad across the 7 seas. Alas, this is no fantasy and we are reminded of that all too suddenly and it is a power that haunts the viewer as the final credits roll. The film also reminds one of our great independent filmmakers, like Spike Lee and Jim Jarmusch in terms of applying simplicity to brilliant and stark primary and secondary characters thus allowing a documentary feel to float with the narrative. Alas, when one is from Morroco as this filmmaker is, it usually takes two or three major efforts like this before you are recognized as being a cinematic genius. One of the best African films I've seen, along with "Quartier Mozart" from Cameroon, and certainly worth one's time.

Touching portrait of the street life of kids

[runamokprods · 7/10 · 3 August 2011]

A variation on Hector Babenco's great 'Pixote' this follows the theme of abandoned street kids, being played by real street kids.

But "Ali" is much less gritty and naturalistic in style, if not story. Beautiful widescreen photography, some playful animated moments, and a slightly less despairing feel (although it's still pretty dark).

A young street boy is killed, and his friends try to figure out how to and his street friends try to figure out how to get him 'buried like a prince', hoping to give his sad, lost life some meaning in death. All the while they have to fend off attacks from the local street gang, find the boy's mother and let her know about her son's sad demise, etc.

Very well acted for the most part, and has it's share of touching, heartbreaking moments. But it also feels manipulative and 'moviesh' at others. Certainly a good film, if not quite at the level of it's ancestors.

Disturbingly great, Vividly accurate

[hatimemail · 10/10 · 2 June 2004]

This movie brings back memories of growing up in morocco, although the movie puts you in the front seat of the realities in real life much of this goes ignored by the rest of the populace. The feeling is of numbness to the harsh realities that these vagabonds have to go through. Most of these kids never make it to adulthood and if they do they are seriously psychologically ill. After watching this movie you will undeniably feel resentment to society and blame yourself for being part of it. Overall I think the movie was well directed, the characters were AMAZING (I hope that they get some type of recognition) some of the scenes are beautifully shot. Vote 10+ from my part

A movie that wasn't doing anything for me.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 6/10 · 7 March 2012]

This movie is very easy to like. It's foreign, it's independent, about poverty and kids living on the streets and with actors in it that seem to be non-professionals. It's the sort of movie film festivals will love to show and while I have no problem at all with this sort of movies, I have to be fair and say that this movie really wasn't all that special to watch.

It's not making a big or important enough impact with anything. If this movie wanted to show the hard life of Moroccan kids, living on the streets in the big city, this movie surely failed at that. It's really not showing all that much of the problems and difficulties and this movie also surely isn't providing any answers or solutions to anything. You would expect this movie to make a statement about at least something but it really doesn't ever do so.

But also if the movie wanted to be like a random slice of life, it just isn't a good enough movie. The characters aren't all that interesting or likable and the story is lacking any good or interesting developments. There is no real conflict in this movie and after finishing it, you just don't have the feeling at all, that any of the characters had gone through any transition or anything for any of them had changed. You could say that it's a movie about nothing and it's going nowhere really. Or at least nowhere interesting or compelling enough.

I must admit that it was also mostly due to the actors that I just could never really get into the movie. To be frank, they were quite horrible at times. I'm pretty sure of it that non of these kids were actors and none of them had any form of experience yet. They mostly annoyed me, while the kids were still supposed to be the heart and center of the movie and it was important to really like them and care about them.

It's not a horrible movie, or a terribly done one but it just is one that isn't doing anything good or interesting with its story and its a lacking a good main premise, drama, characters and emotions. Really nothing all that special, though some people still obviously love it.

6/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

A fantastic film about Life!!!!!

[anton-6 · 9/10 · 1 November 2001]

This film was great.Could be the best film I have seen in theaters this year.It´s about homeless children in Morocko living on the streets and one day Ali gets murdered in a violent fight.Suddenly there is a hope for his friends,they make up their mind to do a nice Funeral to Ali what ever it will cost.But soon they find out that it is not so easy......

The children acts so Masterful and that´s maybe because they play them self.The film is disturbing but still very beautiful and poetic.It almost brought me to tears sometimes.It´s not for children but adult and teenagers can see this fantastic film.I almost give this 5/5 it´s only some things that makes me give this a VERY strong four.4+/5

When their friend and leader dies, 3 boys from the street learn to deal with the pain, the confusion and a memorable way to say goodbye.

[gato · 10/10 · 30 November 2002]

One of the most beautiful and moving movies I have ever watched! Magnificently directed and acted plus a superb plot. Should have been nominated and should have won an Academy Award. Believe me when I tell you few movies will leave you as shocked and sensitive as this one.

Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets

[jboothmillard · 5/10 · 10 April 2020]

This Moroccan was formerly listed and written about in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I didn't read much into it, but this recommendation was enough for me to take a chance on it. Basically, set in an impoverished village in Morocco, a group of fifteen-year-old children live on the streets. Ali Zaoua (Abdelhak Zhayra) is the leader, he and his fellow gang members: Kwita (Mounïm Kbab), Omar (Mustapha Hansali) and Boubker (Hicham Moussoune), are all homeless and uneducated. Since they left Dib (Saïd Taghmaoui) and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. Most of the time they spend glue sniffing, a representation of their only escape from reality, and often stray into petty crime for food, clothing, and shelter. live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali has ambitions to become a cabin boy on a ship. When he was living with his mother (Amal Ayouch), who was a prostitute, he often heard fairy tales of about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. One day, Ali and his friends are confronted by Dib and his gang of criminals, including teenagers and younger children. Ali's group are forced to hide for cover in the ruins as they are pelted by rocks. Ali tries to make peace with Dib, stepping out and talking to him. But one of his gang members accidentally strikes him on the head with a rock, leading the gang to flee. The blow to Ali's head is fatal, and his friends are forced to drag his body and are covered in blood. The three of them are devastated and want to give their former leader a proper burial. Kwita is treated badly by many, including the military, the police and by well-off children, because of his non-religious and petty criminal activities. Omar attempts to return to Dib's gang. Boubker, the smallest and most positive of the boys, temporarily despairs, but recovers. The boys all try various ways to raise money or find the necessary tools and traditions for a funeral, including a coffin, and a Fisherman (Mohamed Majd) with a boat, to give him the send-off they want for Ali. Against all odds, the three boys manage to arrange Ali's funeral to pay respect to their friend. He is taken across the water on a boat, in a basic coffin, and buried below the surface of a rig in the sea. Also starring Hicham Ibrahimi as the Sailor. This is a fairly easy to follow story, a tragic death of a child and his fellow street kids wanting to find the resources for his funeral, the cutaways of children's drawings turned into an animated fantasy adventure of a sailor are clever, and the Moroccan locations are most interesting, I admit it slow in moments, but a reasonable crime drama. Worth watching!

a film from another world...

[july24christina · 22 September 2003]

This is definitely one of the best films that i've seen lately. It tells the story of Moroccan street children who live in the filth of the gutters of present-day Casablanca. These homeless urchins, with a few exceptions, make up a gang of at least 75-100 kids who pick pockets, sniff glue and are led by Dib, a modern-day Fagin. A band of 3 ids, following a dreamer- Ali Zaoua, splits from this gang. When Ali is killed by a kid from the gang, the story begins.

We follow these children as they try to give Ali a funeral, and what we see in their world is at times terrifying, or at least extremely upsetting and unsettling. Part of what makes the film so effective is that the children are not actors- they are real street children. they are not Hollywood's dirty Orphan Annies, in pre-stained clothing and manufactured dirt- they are real. Dib is one of the few professional actors in the film. It is at times difficult to see because of this. Still, Ali Zaoua is an extremely good and possibly great film.

its naturalness is astonishing....very rare

[peterbakkers · 9/10 · 16 April 2002]

Only seldom have I seen a movie that's so realistic. It definitely has an enlighting influence on ones mind. The way you look at the world really does change after seeing those poor and yet so, in a heart-touching way, funny streetchildren. One of my top ten movies, I assure you !!

My country's cinematographic icon

[MaoElMouloudi · 10/10 · 16 January 2018]

There's a saying in Morocco that says "A coincidence, is better than a thousand appointments." so how cool is it when the best movie that you've ever seen is the movie that you saw on your very first time to a cinema. I had 10 years old and there was this local movie that got everybody (grown-ups) talking about it, i remember it was a week-end me and my mom went to see my welthy aunt (we were lower class) and my nephew took me with him to the cinema.... I remember me after that movie going in streets like them kids (in the movie) and singing their song... now it's been 15 years and i have seen a lot of french and american movies but above them all stays "Ali Zaoua" as my personal best. I've lost count of how many times i've seen it again and again the movie is unbelievably realistic and heart-warming and whenever i see it, it gets me so nostalgic and reminiscing about my childhood... Another magic fact in my relation with this masterpiece is that the leading actor (Hicham Moussoune) was related to my neighbors and was about my age, so we were sort of "friends" we played in the street a time or two!! There were also great actors in this movie like "Saïd Taghmaoui" who became a hoolywood Star.

The most disturbing yet beautiful film ever

[HenryMiller01 · 10/10 · 11 March 2001]

I recently saw this film at the Santa Barbara international film festival. I glanced over the brief summary, and the fact that it came from Morocco intrigued me. However, it started an hour after a movie I really wanted to see started. The movie I went to wasn't that great and I ended up sneaking out of that one and into Ali Zaoua. I'm now glad I did so because what I saw was one of the most brutally realistic and terrifying, yet beautiful and poetic, inspiring and redemptive movies I've ever seen.

This movie is not for the faint of heart. Since it takes place in the poverty of a third world country, in places where the homeless in America seem spoiled in comparison, this movie portrays the harsh realities these kids endure everyday to survive, whether from the world around them or each other, no matter what the cost. The actors seem casted right off the streets, bearing scars and other physical traces of the nightmares they live through. The fact that the characters are only small children forced to live lives that even an adult would have a difficult time with makes this movie even more powerful.

At times this movie seemed like a version of Lord of the Flies, but I can't go into that any more without potentially spoiling the movie (or Lord of the Flies for those who haven't seen the movie or read the book). All I will say, however, is that the movie doesn't center around what seems to be aspects from Lord of the Flies and has much more good points about it than bad ones, that the movie carries much further than these aspects.

I can't say enough about this movie. I've only seen it one time and now I can't seem to find it on video or DVD. I can only hope that it comes out on DVD and in widescreen format.

Brilliantly powerful

[Zoooma · 9/10 · 14 August 2014]

Moroccan film, brilliantly powerful, about life of the streets for three young abandoned/runaway boys who wish to honor their dead friend by giving him a proper burial. This is not Humphrey Bogart's Casablanca; this is quite a bleak life for these kids. They sniff glue and try not to rejoin a brutal gang they want no part of. They try to avoid being raped... but sometimes it happens. Yet they have the will to survive. Depressing as it might be, the movie still has warmth and is extremely engaging. The boys' performances are out of this world good and the cinematography drew me in and never let me go. I do hope I will be watching this one again one day.

8.3 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

Ali Zaoua

[kjm711 · 10/10 · 26 February 2005]

This film was excellent. I was amazed at the honest portrayal of how these poor children survive alone & uncared for, nobody seemed to care about their terrible situation, and I was saddened by the abuse and cruelty contained in the film both to the children and animals. I have been to Morocco, but did not see any street children & would never have guessed that there was such a problem if not for this film. I will certainly try to keep a track of future films made by this brave individual if this film is anything to go by as he is an honest film maker who does not think viewers need to be protected from the less prettier issues that are in this world. In fact I would like to say thank you to him for making such an interesting film in the first place.

Three street kids in Casablanca tries to bury their dead friend

[wstemp2003 · 10/10 · 22 January 2004]

I saw three good movies in a week (Sling Blade, Billy Elliot, and Ali Zaoua). Interestingly, children play significant roles in each. But I have to say that Ali Zaoua is the best.

The acting in this film is the best I've ever seen, perhaps because these kids were acting out their own life experiences, which makes it even more poignant. The film is brutally realistic, yet poetic and beautiful at the same time. It takes turns breaking your heart and mending it. It really is a film not to be missed.

My number 1

[koenblomme3 · 10/10 · 10 June 2002]

It's the kind of movie that I like, when I saw the score for this movie, I almost got a heart attack, but what I wanted to say, I think this is a great story, (maybee such a low score because we don't realise the movie is playing today everywhere in the world) a dramatic story, but still it's dreamy, and I really didn't feel that bad after seeing it, I just knew what I had to do... It really got me thinking, and also the characters are played very good, (if you didn't know, this children are real 'princes of the road', and I really respect them. If u didn't see the movie, get it NOW!!!

Mean Streets, One Personal Choice

[bobt145 · 9/10 · 2 November 2009]

The lyricism of the streets, this is a sad film about a Morrocan boy, his backstory, his death and his friends who elevate his life to meaningful.

The comparisons to "Lord of the Flies" are natural.

The kids are cruel, they follow a leader quickly, they don't understand some things an adult would immediately grasp, such as Ali's death.

Some of my favorite scenes include Kwita's romantic swoon over an older girl whose pocket he has picked, the tough Mr. Winston, who defends his cardboard home and storefront and the revelation that Dib, a deaf boy and leader of the rabble of kids, did care, was saddened by Ali's death and had planned a proper burial on his own.

Ali's relationship with his mother is told through a children's story, of two suns, an island, and a sailor at sea. It's magical, weaving at different times through illustration and back to life.

In a touching scene, we find that these are Ali's own childhood memories of a taped story, not his imagination. And we find that his mother has kept his room as he left it.

Why didn't she search for him? It doesn't seem possible that Ali's backstory is as true as the rest of the boys believe.

And we are left to believe what we want to. It's very likely we believe in the streets, the poverty, the cruelty, even if we believe that Ali may have had a choice and may have joined the streets from shame, not fear nor necessity.

This is a filmmovement title. Find it and see it.

more films like this?

[brsanders43 · 26 October 2003]

perusing the local library i came across this gem.

the film was released by "filmmovement: a declaration of independents." does anyone have any recommendations for similar type films, possibly by this same publisher?

one of the most chilling, unique, and realistic parts of the film was the abrupt death of "ali" in the beginning. after my expecting of ali to be the main character, i was shocked by his death, but the children live in a merciless world. very realistic as above mentioned.

the gang slogan "life...is a pile of s**t" was a bit depressing. but the overall cheerfulness of the youngest of the three main characters kept my spirits up through the film. "show your pride"... after a goal really cracked me up.

the connection of the 2 suns to the tape in ali's house was an interesting psychological connection thrown in by the author.

my recommendation for more great foreign films: "trois couleurs" directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski and "Obchod na korze" (A Shop on Main Street) by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos. really great stuff.

One of my favorite films of all time

[lecourrierdemarco · 10/10 · 16 March 2004]

I really liked Ali Zaoua and I would recommend it to anybody. Great acting performance from such young kids. It's really a must see. It's well directed and the photography is beautiful. An incredible vision about street kids living in the ruins of Casablanca and a story about friendship and a good lesson about life. Said Thagmaoui is very good who personify Dib, a street Thug who's bullying a big bunch of poor kids who are dealing with drugs problems and beg for money all day long. I voted a 10 for this movie, but if I could've vote 11, I would've done it for sure. I even let go a couple of tears at the end. I watched it with subtitles, I don't know if a dubbed version exists, but, trust me, you must see this movie...

Beauty and innocence in the midst of harsh ugliness

[zkiko · 9/10 · 24 November 2018]

Spectacular movie about 4 kids living in the streets in Casablanca in Morocco. The movie really does a great job at showing the innocence that is still living in some of the kids living in terrible conditions in between hardened wolves. Their dreams and their pains. These kids (that actually really are from those streets) do some terrific acting!!! Some even much better than the most famous actors from Hollywood , where people get paid millions.. The sad part is that after the movie was made, most of the kids had to go back to that same streetlife reality. (Except for one kid that became somewhat of a known actor in Morocco). Beautiful film.. Its different of course if you don't know the language..and the subtitles def need work. This film allows you to visit those childlike, pure feelings you may have had and still have. Beauty in midst of ugliness... is the purest beauty. Must Watch.

One of the best North African films ever

[khalidhasshass · 10/10 · 15 May 2022]

A sad and great movie about abandoned children in the streets of Morocco.

This was one of my favourite local films growing up alongside marok and casanegra.