Abdallah Amrani

The story of four Moroccan women who reunite after a period of estrangement. Their happy facades mask a lot of misery and pain, caused by divorce and betrayals as one of them discovers that the man she loves is cheating on her with one of her closest friends.

Based on Jaouad Mdidech’s renowned account, La chambre noire is a powerful reconstruction and reflection on the horror of what Moroccans have called the “Leaden Years,” when the government enforced an oppression of Political dissenters.

The film tells about the Moroccan past in its black section in the years of lead, the experience of the left in Morocco, and the wave of arrests at that time. After the 1971 coup attempt, the soldiers began to defend themselves that they were carrying out orders. The former Minister of the Interior, ADISC, asks for a written order to do his work. Everyone hides behind duty. Khaled is a young doctor in a hospital in Casablanca. He meets a man on death row. He killed all his family members. His name is Jamal, a detective who was working alongside a man he met a year ago with a burner. Jamal could not burn Ahmed al-Sabbar, so he killed all his family except his daughter Lamia, then burned the bodies, and blamed Ahmed al-Sabbar, who remained silent. The judge who sentenced Ahmed suffers from marital problems His wife is cheating on him with a young advisor, so the lover is killed and the circles go round.

Ahmed Bouanani’s first feature film played a pivotal role in bringing experimentalism to Moroccan cinema. It’s a fable-like story of a poor young farmer who finds treasure in a flour bag. This takes him on a journey where nothing is as it seems. The film’s narrative structure frequently makes reference to mythology and literature, utilizing Morocco’s rich history and oral traditions.