12/1/2022–|Last update: 12/1/202203:42 PM (Mecca)
When the Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci came to the city of Tetouan in northern Morocco in 1990 to shoot some scenes of his movie “The Protective Sky”; He was very impressed with the city’s natural lighting. And he had every right. The city, which is called the Sister of Granada, is characterized by dazzling natural lighting that makes the light shine between the sides of the roads and its old buildings, even when the sun hides behind the clouds. The city is a destination for many tourists and bears the Andalusian heritage at the level of people and stone, which makes it a microcosm of Andalusia, with the exception of one aspect only, which is the cinema.
When the Moriscos migrated from Andalusia to North Africa about 5 centuries ago, they brought with them all the Andalusian heritage of music, poetry, literature, customs and traditions, even clothes, house keys, and records of genealogical trees and families. And Andalusians have preserved to this day these features in the cities in which they are concentrated, such as the cities of northern Morocco. And there became what could be called contemporary Andalusian popular culture. It is a culture that includes and covers all aspects of the daily life of the Andalusians, especially the architectural style that is unmistakable for any visitor to these areas. However, the cinematic reflection of this culture is still limited. Most of the Arab artworks about Andalusia are still concentrated mainly in historical drama series or documentaries without contact with contemporary Andalusian culture and its aesthetic elements that are still strongly present.
In this context, the exception seems to be present in the works of director and screenwriter Mohamed Ismail, the son of the city of Tetouan, who passed away a few months ago, and which critics consider an extension of the Italian realist school. And the Andalusian influence is clear in his films, from which the Andalusian culture radiates, although they do not necessarily address the historical aspect of the issue, but the Andalusian culture is present in the form of architecture in the film cadres and the issues it deals with and which characterize the buildings in the cities of the North of Morocco, especially Chefchaouen, Tetouan and other cities. His latest film, “La Mora”, which he directed in 2020, restores consideration to the Moroccans who were forced to fight in the ranks of the Spanish dictator Franco’s army during the Spanish Civil War. It is part of the suffering of the descendants of the Moriscos in the modern era with Spain.
The film tells the story of the Spanish officer “Domenco Badia”, who disguised himself as an Arab prince and came to Morocco during the reign of Sultan Moulay Suleiman, who was a strong ruler with ambitions to invade Spain and restore Andalusia. The film is a Moroccan-Italian co-production with a highly professional visual language and a huge artistic production.
Although the works of many contemporary Moroccan directors about Andalusia still revolve around the historical aspect or clandestine immigration to Spain, some of them have managed to achieve some achievements to break this image. Mohamed Nazif directed the movie “Andalusia Monamour” in 2012, which deals with the issue of clandestine immigration in comic template. He was able to transform the issue of Andalusia from a historical issue into an embodiment of the idea of the European dream sought by young people who aspire to emigrate through death sea voyages. The idea of Andalusian history in the film turns into an obsession for the hero in the film, so that the features between the glorious past and the painful reality fade through the emigration bridge, which represents the only crossing. He changed his name from “Andalusia Ya Lahbiba” to “Andalus Munamour” to avoid the initial impression that the film is historical and to be closer to the Moroccan dialect.
Also, the movie “From Sand and Fire…The Impossible Dream” in 2019, directed by Souhail Ben Barka, is one of the hallmarks of Moroccan cinema in terms of form and content. The film, although historically dating back to the beginning of the 19th century and not directly related to the Andalusian era, did deal with the Andalusian issue from a different angle. The film tells the story of the Spanish officer “Domenco Badia”, who disguised himself as an Arab prince and came to Morocco during the reign of Sultan Moulay Suleiman, who was a strong ruler with ambitions to invade Spain and restore Andalusia. The film is a Moroccan-Italian co-production with a highly professional visual language and a huge artistic production.
In Algeria, the Algerian director Mohamed Al-Shweikh was able to present an important historical and cinematic treatment of the Andalusian issue, based on the Algerian experience associated with Andalusia in his film “The Andalusian” in 2014. Through a historical projection, he tried to address the problems of contemporary society and present the Andalusian experience in coexistence and tolerance between religions and cultures as a solution to these problems. The film tells the story of Muslim and Jewish families who were displaced from Andalusia to Algerian cities such as Mostaganem after the fall of Granada. Among the displaced were Christian figures, so that the followers of the three religions could coexist in the city of Mostaganem and under the auspices and protection of its ruler. The film is a joint Algerian-Tunisian-Spanish production and is one of the important milestones in the history of Algerian cinema.
The film “The Destiny” by Youssef Chahine in 1997 was one of the important attempts to revive Andalusian culture visually by a director from outside the Maghreb countries. This cinematic work was embodied in a mold closer to fantasy than to historical work, in a colloquial, not classical language, accompanied by songs and reviews. Were it not for the fact that he plunged into the current political and ideological struggles at the time, his influence would have been less polarizing and more inspiring for other filmmakers. Far from his embodiment of an important jurist such as Imam Ibn Rushd in a picture that provoked a lot of criticism, it seems to be the depiction and embodiment of the ancient Andalusian culture in a new form. It is an attempt that was not repeated after that, unfortunately.
All this tells us that we are facing an Andalusian presence in contemporary Arab cinema in a way that does not necessarily require addressing historical issues, but rather extends beyond that within the structure and composition of Arab film. There are several basic elements that contribute to shaping the fabric of the film, including the music, the visual staff, the clothes, the visual language used, and of course the story and script. The ancient Andalusian culture and its contemporary manifestation have an overwhelming presence in each of these elements if they are technically employed properly. Like it or not, Andalusian culture is an important component of the contemporary Arab personality beyond the idea of nostalgia for the lost paradise. Therefore, any serious artistic attempts to employ this cinematic culture will be an important addition to Arab cinema, raising the value of its privacy and helping to crystallize a new identity for it.
