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Any Rbaty and Slawi love to go To Bab El Ahad in Rabat where it resides the most popular Cafeteria of a distinguished Moroccan -shef du cuisine- called Al Haj Bamhawoud . Café Bamhawoud becomes a cultural metaphor especially for simple men, artists and religious fidels who meet there to eat and taste local Bissara .
The restaurant also echoes the time of the fourties, fiveties and sixtees and classical music of Essit,the eternel singer, Oum Kalthoum faded out with the sweet voice of Abdelouhab, heard in far distance ,gathering successfully all those people sit proudly to recall their nostalgic memories , and to talk fervently about daily life and sometimes religion and Arts .
There in Bab Al had , i meet with a SNRT veteran ,Brahim Bamhawoud who has given a lot to Dar El Brihi starting as a stage actor and then a brilliant set decorator .
Allal-cinemagoer : Casablanca is doing well as far as cinematic and Tv productions are concerned . I mean ,those who live in Casablanca are lucky, but those ones in Rabat are jobless and are in the list to be called by Tv or cinema
producers , ?
Brahim : You see Allal; .I must tell you one thing . You better kill artists with betrayal bullites than marginilize them .I mean to say that artists are not born to stay at home like ladies .Society needs them apparently ,because art is like blood .it gives life .
Allal-Cinemagoer : You mean you are not working now ,but i remember you played that role of that funny Cake man ( Sfanji ) with Mohamed Al Jam last Ramadan .You were convincing .
Brahim : Thanks Allal .I was given the script before 24 hours which were very little .But, the result was good .Although i was a little bit nervous about that work,but evidently Mohamed Al Jamd was a very good foil to me which everybody expected the contrary.
Allal-Cinemagoer :Tell us about your past ? How do you come to Dar El Brihi ?
Brahim :That was right in the fiveties , we created a theatre guild in Rabat called the little Mask.Then ,Abderrahman Mouline,a Tv director trained in Russia, thought i wa a convincing actor .He suggested to me to join him at RTM, but not as an actor .He did so to work with him as a set decorator . Then , i started to learn about analogical editing.There was no digital editing that time .We call our work cut from machine to machine .Eveybody knows that montage via cut technique is so precise and difficult .It really needs full attention and observation from editors.
Later ,I was introduced to fatima Twati with whom i worked in that intellectual program called Riado Al Fiker .I had the honor to work with Kamal Skiekh at the post-production editing altoghether his full work .You must know him .He has directed many excellent Egyptian movies using a very high style of montage .Fortunately, kamal was happy about my editing and when he saw my boss El Issari , he said handsome things about myself . I was happy about that event .
Allal-cinemagoer ; In that movie called Bamo directed by Driss El Mrini , you had a funny role , but you were not bad at all , i presume ?
Brahim : Yes , I think I did my best in acting .Anyway , Driss called me not only to play in his film but , i also did decoration which was awarded in that Cairo Film Festival may be in the eighties .
I am very proud of that work . You know Allal, we had to shoot Bamo,the movie around Azilal region called Wawizart .it is a vey exciting place to be especially i was among excellent actors like Hassan Joundi, Arbi Doghmi ,Mohmad Moftah and others .
Allal-cinemagoer : Do you happen to participtate in international cinema ?
Brahim : Yes , of course . I had one little role in - A Thousand and One Nights- movie released in 1983.
Allal-cinemagoer : Are you expecting to be called for your Card of Artist ?
Brahim : What card are you talking about ?
Allal-cinemagoer : It is a card that is only meant for artists to help them have a better life hopefully .Touria jabran ,the minister of culture , has recently annouced in the net( see Hespress.com) that these cards will be given very soon .
Brahim : Words and only words .Words without thoughts never to heaven go .
Allal-cinemagoer : Hey.That is Hamlet by William Shakespeare .
Brahim : True .
Interviewed by Allal El Alaoui
