Mille mois - Alf Chahr
1981 - Morocco – The month of Ramadan. With her seven-year-old son, Mehdi, Amina moves in with her father-in-law, Ahmed. Mehdi’s father is in prison but the boy believes that he has gone to work in France: his mother and grandfather maintain this illusion for his sake. At school, Mehdi has the privileged task of looking after the teacher’s chair. His relationship with the village, his friends and the world revolves around this object.
Festivals & awards
Prix Le Premier Regard et Prix de la Jeunesse, Cannes 2003; Prix spécial du Jury, Namur 2003; Prix spécial du jury, Alexandrie 2003; Prix FICC et Mention Spéciale du Jury Oecuménique, Fribourg 2004; Grosser Jurypreis für den besten Spielfilm, Miami International Film Festival 2004
Credits
Original Title
Mille mois - Alf Chahr
Title
Mille mois - Alf Chahr
Directed by
Faouzi Bensaidi
Country
Morocco
Year
2003
Screenplay
Faouzi Bensaidi
Film Editing
Sandrine Deegen
Cinematography
Antoine Héberlé
Sound
Patrice Mendez, Franco Piscopo
Costumes
Emma Bellocq
Production Design
Naima Bouanani, VĂ©ronique Melery
Production
Gloria Films, Agora Films, Entre Chien et Loup
Formats
35mm
Runtime
124 min.
Language
Arabisch/d/f oder i
Cast
Fouad Labied (Mehdi), Nezha Rahil (Amina), Mohammed Majd (Ahmed)
Pro Material
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Press voices
«Faouzi Bensaidi livre un premier long-métrage d'une étonnante maturité esthétique.» L'Express
«Das ist ein Film, der uns aufnimmt und mit sich trägt: Nehmen wir die Einladung zum Spaziergang an, sie ist es wert.»
Africulture
The Hollywood Reporter (Michael Rechtshaffen):
"Like the visually poetic works of the Iranian Makhmalbaf filmmaking family, the picture has a lot to say about politics, religion and social injustice, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for generous amounts of gently observed satire".
Variety (Deborah Young):
"… a feature debut of unusual sophistication and emotional resonance (…) brings a wisp of humor to a tale pleasingly grounded in authentic feelings".
The New York Times (Elvis Mitchell):
“The imagery in A THOUSAND MONTHS has a plaintive found-art beauty that Faouzi Bensaidi, the director, uses as an elegant contradiction to the deftly woven story lines. […] Impressively structured melodrama.”
INDIEWIRE (Howard Feinstein):
"Another good movie is "A Thousand Months," Faouzi Bensaidi's tragicomic coming-of-age tale of a boy surrounded by familial and political upheaval in a Moroccan village. This is an important work: A new wave is emerging from the Maghreb, Africa north".
«Das ist ein Film, der uns aufnimmt und mit sich trägt: Nehmen wir die Einladung zum Spaziergang an, sie ist es wert.»
Africulture
The Hollywood Reporter (Michael Rechtshaffen):
"Like the visually poetic works of the Iranian Makhmalbaf filmmaking family, the picture has a lot to say about politics, religion and social injustice, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for generous amounts of gently observed satire".
Variety (Deborah Young):
"… a feature debut of unusual sophistication and emotional resonance (…) brings a wisp of humor to a tale pleasingly grounded in authentic feelings".
The New York Times (Elvis Mitchell):
“The imagery in A THOUSAND MONTHS has a plaintive found-art beauty that Faouzi Bensaidi, the director, uses as an elegant contradiction to the deftly woven story lines. […] Impressively structured melodrama.”
INDIEWIRE (Howard Feinstein):
"Another good movie is "A Thousand Months," Faouzi Bensaidi's tragicomic coming-of-age tale of a boy surrounded by familial and political upheaval in a Moroccan village. This is an important work: A new wave is emerging from the Maghreb, Africa north".