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That was somewhere in Mekness where i happened to meet for the second time Hamid Bennani, a decent man whose quite and yet beautiful soul lurks among Meknassy streets.Hamid is a Moroccan filmmaker who has been influenced by spanish surrealist film director Louis Bunuel .Thanks to Hamid , Moroccan cinema knew its first path to professionnalism by realizing his remarquable long featured movie called - Wechma - along with Ahmed Bouanani , Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi and Mohamed Sekkat.
In 1958,Hamid Bennani enjoys training in drama and
creative workshop and writing organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in
Morocco. He made his high school to colleges and Poeymirau Moulay Ismail , before
joining the Faculty of Letters of Rabat where he obtained a degree in
philosophy in 1964.
In 1965, he studied film at the Institute of Film Studies
( IDHEC ) currently Femis , which he won in 1967, " Production and Economy,
Production " section. He was part of another promotion of Moroccan filmmakers Moumen Smihi . While studying in Rabat and
Paris , he attended seminars by philosophers Jacques Derrida, Roland Barthes
and Paul Ricoeur .
In 1968 , he joined the Moroccan Radio and Television RTM
where he held the position of head of department of external relations. He
resigned from RTM in 1970 and founded the production company " Sigma 3
" in collaboration with Bouanani Ahmed Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi and Mohamed
Sekkat. This is the company that produced the same year his first feature film "
Wechma " (Traces ) .
This is the film that , upon completion , enjoyed a
reputation worldwild , thanks to mini
circuits film clubs under the auspices of the Moroccan Federation of Film
Societies (HSFC ) who participated to Besides the financing of the film, as
well as abroad where he won numerous awards in film festivals. Criticism
welcomes with enthusiasm and it recognizes a hitherto unsurpassed quality . It
is widely considered the founder of the Moroccan cinema film. Films previously
made by
Moroccan filmmakers , including "Beating to live," "When mature
dates " and " Spring Sun " in comparison with " Wechma "
are reproductions , sometimes lazy , stereotypes known to all .
" Wechma " is a film in the heavy atmosphere
that is more interested in the internal struggles of the characters and their actions.
This was an important step in the evolution of Moroccan cinema since paved the
way for new storytelling techniques explored by Moumen Smihi , and Mustapha
Ahmed Bouanani and Derkaoui . Despite its critical success, the film enjoyed
only a short commercial release in Casablanca ( Morocco ) and it was not until 1980
that must be projected into the " 7th
Art " in Rabat. However, he was presented several times in the circuits of
film clubs across the cities of Morocco.
He had to wait almost twenty years before turning his
second feature film , "The prayer of the absent ", the original title
was " The Secrets of the Milky Way ." The film is adapted from the
very famous novel writer Tahar Ben Jelloun "The prayer of the absent ."
Unfortunately, this last film did not benefit from the same esteem reserved for
the previous film. Both factors explain this critical public and semi-failure .
He wanted to instill in his film an international
dimension to the way of Luis Buñuel, he is his follower , hence the original
title of the film. Because it remains true Moroccan specialist Buñuel which he
devoted many studies published by the short-lived magazine " Cinema 3
".
However Hamid Benani claims over Sartrean influence.
