| Date | Fri 11 November 2022 |
|---|---|
| Time | 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM |
| Price | £6 |
Director: Farida Benlyazid (Morocco, 1989, F-Rated)
Certification: 15 | 1 h 47 min | Language: Arabic with English subtitles
When she finds out her father is dying, Nadia, a Moroccan émigré to France returns to Fes to say goodbye. At her father’s funeral, she hears a voice chanting the Qu’ran and develops a friendship with the woman singing it. As the friendship between the two women grows, Nadia is inspired to turn the house she has inherited from her father into a shelter for Muslim women.
An acclaimed film by Morocco’s pioneering female director, Farida Benlyazid which combines spirituality with social and economic concerns in Morocco, A Door to the Sky interrogates the power of return and rediscovery. For many years, no copy of this film in any format was made available to audiences in Morocco. Now restored to its former glory through collaborative efforts by the University of Exeter, the Centre Cinematographique Morocco (CCM), and Dragon DI, the film has been donated to the CCM to guarantee its access to the population that it represents.
Special event as part of Cinema Rediscovered on tour with traditional Moroccan snack and tea prepared by Bouchra Miri, a member of the Moroccan community living in Trowbridge, and a pre-recorded introduction by Dr Stefanie Van De Peer who is behind Global Women’s Film Heritage, building a collective of researchers and practitioners that make women and their films more visible in global film archives.
“Benlyazid’s film strives to adapt mainstream narrative film to celebrate Morocco’s cultural history and to trace out a feminist trajectory that embraces the country’s Islamic heritage.” – Suzanne Gauch, Transnational Feminist Spectatorship (Research Article)
Presented as part of Cinema Rediscovered on Tour, a Watershed project in collaboration with Black Cinema Project, Ajabu Ajabu and Hyde Park Picturehouse with support from BFI awarding funds from The National Lottery and MUBI.
To avoid the online booking fee please phone our box office on 01225 774306. Open Monday to Saturday, 10am – 4pm.
Covid-19 Information
– Seating arrangements are subject to change due to changes in social distancing regulations.
– Please support the return of our events by taking a lateral flow test before attending.
– Do not attend the event if you are displaying Covid-19 symptoms, have tested positive, or have been a close contact of someone who is infected and are required to self isolate.
