El Moudir strikes an impressive balance between rediscovering the past and unearthing the emotions packed away for decades.
Read full articleThrough her use of recreation, Asmae El Moudir suggests that the act of documentary filmmaking can turn historical truths into fiction, in which everyone becomes an active participant.
Read full articleThe delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony brilliantly evokes the personal and collective trauma that stem from Morocco’s “Years of Lead” -- a period of state brutality under Hassan II’s dictatorial rule.
Read full articleA staggering work of documentary filmmaking, Asmae El Moudir recreates her personal history and a tragic chapter in Morocco’s history with her family as witness.
Read full article“The Mother of All Lies” is an astonishing work whose maturity comes from El Moudir’s wide-eyed approach to her family history, where memory and history are quite literally reduced to playthings in order to process the unspeakable events they conjure up.
Read full articleThe filmmaker’s approach is unusual, to a certain extent perhaps forced upon her by circumstances. For political reasons, it remains difficult to confront the crimes committed by Hassan II (whose son, Mohammed VI, is the nation’s present ruler).
Read full articleA remarkable reimagining of the very grammar of the documentary film.
Read full articleA big swing that pays off, Asmae El Moudir's hybrid documentary examines the three-way intersection of creativity, history, and memory in a way that is both artistically invigorating and emotionally thorny.
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