Femmetasia
Fall Grants 2018 - Development Stage
Mouhssine El Badaoui / Feature Documentary / Morocco, Belgium, Qatar / 2019 / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Social Issues, Identity, Creative Documentary
Synopsis
Coming from a humble village, Hanane is determined to make a name for herself as the founder and member of the only female troupe of horsewomen representing Marrakech. . But the challenges are daunting, as Fantasia, a Moroccan festivity of battle bravery, is a costly and traditionally male-only activity. Hanane is ready to run every gauntlet though, and she’s willing to sacrifice her private life, threaten her family’s financial situation, and face the prejudices of a patriarchal society. Her ambition is to achieve a good show at her district’s prestigious yearly Moussem, opposite the best riders in the kingdom. This is about more than mere recognition—her status as a woman and her social position are at stake.
Credits
- Director
- Mouhssine El Badaoui
- Screenwriter
- Mouhssine El Badaoui
- Producer
- Karim Aitouna, Isabel de la Serna
- Production Company
- Hautlesmains Productions
About the Director
Mouhssine El Badaoui was born in Casablanca to a family of performers. He first worked as a technician in the El Badaoui theatre company, then as an actor and stage director. He took part in several tours in the kingdom and has directed several radio programmes, TV shows and theatre plays. He went on to study movie directing in the Institut des Arts de Diffusion in Belgium, where he graduated with honours in 2002. Mouhssine ha worked as an assistant location manager on Belgian TV series, then as first assistant director on foreign films shot in Southern Morocco such as ‘Babel’ (Alejandro Iñárritu,
2006), ‘13 Hours’ (Michael Bay, 2016), and ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ (Ang Lee, 2016). He joined RTBF in 2007 where he directs several live multi- camera TV shows such as ‘Au quotidien’, ‘Mise au point’, ‘69 minutes sans chichis’, and ‘On n’est pas des pigeons’.