Mokhtar
2010 · 13m · Canada
Directed by Halima Ouardiri
Genres: coming-of-age, drama, family
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
In a remote Moroccan village, a young goatherd's son secretly cares for an injured owl he found, defying his superstitious father who believes the bird is a harbinger of bad luck. Based on a true story shot on super-16mm with local non-professional villagers near Agadir.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
It's competent and touching, sure, but there's nothing here that makes me lean forward—just a straightforward fable about a kid and a bird that plays exactly the notes you'd expect it to play.
A formally assured piece of social realist cinema, shot with the textural clarity super-16 affords, that positions itself squarely in the lineage of Moroccan and Mediterranean coming-of-age narratives; the restraint is admirable, even if the emotional architecture feels somewhat familiar.
The decision to cast only the owl as a trained performer and build the entire narrative around actual villagers—children who *are* the goatherds, elders who *are* the superstitious fathers—creates an almost documentary texture that elevates what could've been sentimental into something genuinely lived and specific.
Reviews
Mokhtar, an awesome little Canadian film based in Morocco
Acclaimed in a hundred international festivals — Toronto, Berlin, Rotterdam and Dubai — before broadcasting on France 3, CBC and TSR.
Festivals
- Toronto International Film Festival 2010, TIFF Canada's Top Ten Short Films
- Vancouver International Film Festival 2010, Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
- Berlin International Film Festival 2011
- International Film Festival Rotterdam 2011
- Dubai International Film Festival 2010
- Amiens International Film Festival 2010, Audience Award
- Quebec City Film Festival 2011, People's Choice Award (Short Films)
- Pacific Meridian International Film Festival 2011, Best Short Film
- Yorkton Film Festival 2011, Golden Sheaf — Best Multicultural
- Cinema Jove International Film Festival 2011, Special Jury Award
- Jutra Awards 2011