Director Bozko calls for giving the Amazigh film opportunities for “cinematic balance”.

Moroccan film director Mohamed Buzkou said that while Amazigh cinema has seen a resurgence in the past few years, it remains “small” as only 6 or 7 Amazigh films have been available in our treasury since Morocco’s independence in 1956.

Bozko, in his speech to Hespress, felt that Amazigh cinema, or Moroccan-language Amazigh cinema, needed more effort and serious work to move it forward.

To achieve this, the director believes that everything related to the Amazigh language in Morocco should be treated with what he called “positive discrimination”, empowering Amazigh cinema and culture.

Bozco also stressed the need to make up the shortfall since 1956 and to produce additional films about the Amazigh, which he said would balance cinematic production in Morocco.

As for the speaker himself, “it’s unreasonable to release 20 films a year, not counting any film in this language, and wait more than two years to see an Amazigh film”, as he put it, also considering that “it’s not fair to cinema Amazighs.”

film “Anval”

Regarding the controversy caused by his new film Anwal, which he finished filming a few days ago, especially its reliance on Moroccan-speaking actors portraying rural figures, including the character of resistance fighter Muhammad bin Abdul Karim al-Khattabi, Bozco said: “We followed these answers, and some of them were funny, because there are those who talk about some things that are not originally in the film.

The director believes the question should have been asked, “Do we have enough rural-speaking actors who play well?” before continuing, “If we have enough of them, we can make a rural film with honors about Muhammad bin Abdul Karim al-Khattabi”. He added, “I don’t know a single rural actor who graduated from an acting institute. There are rural actors who worked in the theatre, but we know that the theatrical movement in the countryside is still very weak.”

And “Anwal” is a historical film that tells about one aspect of the life of Muhammad ibn al-Karim al-Khattabi, namely his role in the battle of “Anwal”, which he fought against the Spanish colonialists, so it’s not easy, according to Bozko entrust its representation to “anyone”; However, “more than ten actors from the countryside starred in the film,” he said.

And in the same context, the director explained that during the search for a person for the main role in the film, there was a need for an actor who looked like Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Khattabi, and at the same time, who owns the game of historical roles, “And we found this only with actor Rabih al-Kati. Al-Qarawiyyin University in Melilla, his journey and work there, and how he changed his mind and chose to resist the Spanish colonialists, especially his battle at the Battle of the Annual, where the chapters of the film will begin from 1906 to 1921.

As for Bozco, what he called the “politics” that accompanied the film before its release “is something positive, whether criticism or praise, as it gave us the motivation to step up our efforts to produce the film in the most beautiful manner,” emphasizing, on the other hand, that all these opinions “did not influence the chosen course”.

And about the film’s screening date, Muhammad Bozko said: “We’ve now finished filming and we’ll need a year – at least – of work in the post-production aspects, that is, visual effects, including 3D, which now compensate for a lot of what could have been cost the film additional budget, such as combat and Spanish attack boats, in line with what is practiced in modern cinematic productions.

The director participates in the International Film Festival of Shared Memory in Nador with the film in the Amazigh language “Noah’s Boat”.