Mostafa Derkaoui (; 1944 - ) is a Moroccan

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

who has made revolutionary and socially-engaged films.

Biography

Derkaoui was born in

Oujda Oujda ( ar, وجدة; ber, ⵡⵓⵊⴷⴰ, Wujda) is a major Moroccan city in its northeast near the border with Algeria. Oujda is the capital city of the Oriental region of northeastern Morocco and has a population of about 558,000 people. It ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

in 1944. In the early 1960s, Derkaoui studied philosophy in Casablanca and wrote plays. One of his first plays was banned for political reasons. For 8 months in 1963, he studied at the '' Institut des hautes études cinématographiques'' in Paris. After returning to Morocco for a short period of time, Derkaoui made his first short film "The Four Walls" which is now lost. After studying

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

for a year, he attended the Łódź Film School. He was influenced by Jean Mitry and

Georges Sadoul Georges Sadoul (4 February 1904 – 13 October 1967) was a French film critic, journalist and cinema writer. He is known for writing encyclopedias of film and filmmakers, many of which have been translated into English. Biography Sadoul was ...

Early career

During his time at the Łódź Film School, Derkaoui directed four short films of different genres. He also wrote a thesis titled “The role of cinema in transforming and elevating consciousness”. During his studies, Derkaoui remained politically active and engaged in student life, supporting the struggles for democracy and human rights in Morocco. In one of his student films "People from the Cellar", Derkaoui filmed debates at the Estates General of Cinema in Paris, and while most of the footage has been lost, a rare extract has remained.

Films

''About Some Meaningless Events''

About Some Meaningless Events ''About Some Meaningless Events'' is a 1974 docu-fiction film directed by Mostafa Derkaoui. Moroccan authorities banned the film after its first and only screening in Paris. Widely believed to have been lost, negative prints were uncovered in th ...

'' (), an independent film exploring the role of cinema in Morocco, was released in 1974 and subsequently banned by Moroccan authorities. In its presentation of conversations with people from different segments of society, it is similar in concept to Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch' film ''

Chronique d’un été ''Chronicle of a Summer'' (French original title: ''Chronique d'un été'') is a 1961 French documentary film shot during the summer of 1960 by sociologist Edgar Morin and anthropologist and filmmaker Jean Rouch, with the technical and aesthetic ...

''. Among those interviewed was the Moroccan novelist

Mohamed Zafzaf Mohamed Zafzaf (Arabic: ; 1945 – 13 July 2001) was a prominent Arabic-language novelist and poet in 20th century Morocco. He played a pivotal role in the development of Moroccan literature in the second half of the 20th century and, due to ...

. The film was believed to have disappeared until negatives were found in an archive in Barcelona in 2016. The

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

described ''About Some Meaningless Events'' as "an audacious blend of drama, documentary, and improvisation," embodying a radical approach to art, politics, and social relations also found in journals such as

Souffles-Anfas ''Souffles'' or ''Anfas'' () was a francophone and arabophone quarterly socio-political literary magazine published in Rabat, Morocco, between 1966 and 1972. History and profile ''Souffles'' was established in 1966 as "a manifesto for a new ae ...

. The film was funded with the sale of artworks by

Mohamed Melehi Mohammed Melehi (; 12 November 1936 – 28 October 2020) was a Moroccan painter associated with the Casablanca school, a modernist art movement active in the 1960s in Morocco. Early life Melehi was born Asilah, Morocco. He studied at the School ...

and others. According to Derkaoui, the film was screened twice

n Morocco N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

before being banned: once in Tetuan among friends, and once at the auditorium of the

OCP Group The OCP Group (OCP S.A.) (formerly Office Chérifien des Phosphates) is a Moroccan state-owned phosphate rock miner, phosphoric acid manufacturer and fertilizer producer. Founded in 1920, the company has grown to become the world's largest produ ...

in Khouribga as part of the

Festival of African Cinema The Festival of African Cinema (FCAT), also known as Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival, originally African Film Showcase of Tarifa () (2004–2006) and formerly African Film Festival of Tarifa () (2007–2014), the African Film Festival of Co ...

. It was also screened in Paris in 1975. ''About Some Meaningless Events'' was the main subject of Ali Essafi's documentary film ''

Before the Dying of the Light ''Before the Dying of the Light'' (, Tifinagh Tifinagh ( Tuareg Berber language: or , ) is a script used to write the Berber languages. Tifinagh is descended from the ancient Libyco-Berber alphabet. The traditional Tifinagh, sometimes calle ...

''. Other Derkaoui films include two collective films he contributed towards (Cinders of the Vineyard (1975), The Gulf War… What Next? (1992)) as well as Les Beaux Jours de Chahrazade (1982), Je(u) au passé (1994), Les Sept Portes de la nuit (1994), Casablanca de nuit (2003), and Casablanca de jour (2004).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Derkaoui, Mostafa Moroccan film directors 1944 births Living people People from Oujda