12/06/2012

Faouzi Bensaïdi, director of Death for Sale

"We come from Morocco, our film is not expected"

Tetouan, the Atlantic port city in the north of Morocco. Three young men decide to rob a jewellery store. They are among the hopelessly unemployed street population of Morocco’s provincial cities, common thugs in the eyes of many but bound by solidar­ity and friendship. They see the heist as a means to break out of a cycle of poverty that weighs on their destiny like a life sentence. The noir motifs woven into Death for Sale constitute a poetic matrix through which director Faouzi Bensaïdi draws his incisive and intricate portrait of a city left to fend for itself, torn between smugglers and corrupt officials, and prey to extremism and dejec­tion.

"We come from Morocco, we are not expected. People don't call one another to find out what are the projects, the films coming out of Morocco that they have not had the chance to see. At the same time, its a blessing because it takes away some pressure and brings us a certain freedom. We also have an aid system which has really developed over the last 10 years. I would say that Moroccan directors are not worse off."

Death For Sale is in competition at the 2012 edition of the Brussels Film Festival.

Interview in French.