France and Morocco / 2001 / 19mins / Documentary / French

The filmmaker recounts his childhood memories in the wake of the destruction of the housing project in which he grew up. El-Mahouti explores the complexly intertwined in the histories of France and Morocco through the eyes of Moroccan immigrants living in France.

Kamal El-Mahouti

Kamal El-Mahouti is a French writer and director of Moroccan descent. Born in Casablanca in 1963, El-Mahouti moved to France at the age of six. He studied film at the University of Paris VIII, and his films have been screened at festivals worldwide. In addition to making films, El-Mahouti has worked as a theater director and has directed several original stage productions in and around Paris. He has also conducted many acting workshops. In April 2006, he founded a film festival, Panorama des Cinémas du Maghreb, in Saint-Denis, France. El-Mahouti is also the founder of the cultural group Indigènes Films. He won the Muhr Arab Award at the 2012 Dubai International Film Festival for Mon frère (2012), a drama about the internal struggles and complexities of being at once French, Arab and Muslim today. Learn More