MICA
Fall Grants 2019 - Post-Production Stage
Ismaël Ferroukhi / Feature Narrative / France, Morocco, Qatar / 110 min / Original Language: Arabic / Interests: Drama, Social Issues, Immigration
Synopsis
12-year-old Saïd (Mica) sells grocery bags in souks. He lives with his mother and ailing father in a slum near Meknes. One day, Hajj Kadour comes to take Mica to be an errand boy for the family he works for. This job would be an opportunity to help Mica’s family, to whom he would send his meagre salary. After a while, Mica comes back to visit his hometown, learning that his childhood friend migrated to Marseille, he decides that he too wants to leave Morocco. Mr. Slimani, Mica’s boss, hires Sophia, an ex-tennis champion, to make a winner out of his son, Omar. However, Sophia ends up noticing Mica, and takes him under her wing. Hajj Kaddour condemns it, but the little boy sees it as an opportunity to go to Europe. In his first tournament, Mica gets into a fight and is fired from the tennis club. Jobless and homeless, Mica roams around Casablanca for a few days, too embarrassed to go back to his family. At some point, he finds Sophia, who helps him once again. Both of them grow closer, but although she manages to convince him to pick up his training, Mica has one obsession—migration.
Credits
- Director
- Ismaël Ferroukhi
- Screenwriter
- Ismaël Ferorukhi, in collaboration with Fadette Drouard
- Producer
- LA PROD / ELZEVIR FILMS
About the Director
Ismael Ferroukhi is a French-Moroccan film director and screenwriter. Born in Kenitra in 1962, Ferroukhi migrated to France in his youth and grew up in a small city in the south. He gained exposure in 1992 with his short film ‘L’Exposé’, which won two prizes (Kodak and prize for the best short film) at Cannes Film Festival. His directorial debut, ‘Le Grand Voyage’, won the Lion of the Future for a First Film at Venice Film Festival in 2004. His last film ‘Free Men’ was screened at Cannes Film Festival in 2011.