Cinema
Farewell Travelling Player
Bye-Bye Souirty
Daoud Aoulad-Syad · 1998
Synopsis
In the villages of southern Morocco, hard hit by drought, Kacem, a travelling showman of long standing, tours with a mobile lottery stall. He hires Rabii, a young, fragile cross-dressing dancer whom the men mock and the women pamper, and travels with his only son, Larbi, a former boxer out of prison, violent and a fantasist. Three destinies are bound together for the length of a shared journey: Rabii dreams of a gentler elsewhere, while Kacem, ill, flees a dark past he cannot manage to forget.
Context
The screenplay is by Ahmed Bouanani and Youssef Fadel, and Bouanani also edited it with Nathalie Perrey; Thierry Lebigre did the photography and Lachhab the music, for the filmmaker's company. Hassan Essakalli, Mohamed Bastaoui and Abdellah Didane head the cast, with Nazha Rahil and Mohamed Miftah. Presented in 1998 at the Festival des 3 Continents, which sees in it a bittersweet tribute to the last fairground performers of Morocco, then in February 1999 at the Berlinale Forum, it was released in France in April 1999, distributed by Les Films de l'Atalante.
Who it is for
A feature film in Arabic, subtitled in French, in colour, of 90 or 92 minutes depending on the sources; no video copy is reported.
Prizes and reception
Critics' prize, press prize and special jury prize at the fifth National Film Festival, in Casablanca, in 1998.
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