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Akcil : The Moroccan Film Center feels that you are in an interrogation with the police and exposes the Moroccan diaspora, especially the Amazigh
Many filmmakers are eager to know more about your latest film Monster, can you tell them some?
First, I would like to thank you for your interest in the film.The story of the "Munsters" revolves around the consequences of abuse of power and its consequences, telling the story in a form of psychological suspense. It took a few years to write the script, delaying the release of the film to another years of lack of funding, until the company "Jan Prodiction" represented by the person Abdul Rahim Harbal challenge the production of the film with its own resources.
"Munsters" was chosen with 10 of the 650 films from 32 countries to take part in the Winter Film Festival in New York City. I am very excited to share the film with the Moroccan audience.
The film was recently selected to participate in an international festival in America. What does this mean for you and the team?
Akcil :To present the film at an international festival, especially since the film Amazigh, is a matter of pride. It is also the best reward for the team for the efforts and sacrifices it made to complete the film. To me, this involvement is an incentive to work harder.
The film was self-financed and did not get post-production support. Do you think that the other works were more powerful or just a matter of luck?
Akcil :This question is difficult to answer. First, I do not believe in luck in such cases. Second, I can not judge other films because I have not seen them. What I really believe is that time can put things in its natural place, the time will come when we'll see other films alongside "Munsters" then the viewer will be the referee.
The film was not selected to participate in the national film festival in Tangier, what is your reading of the committee's choices.
Akcil : It has been selected from 650 films from 32 countries to participate in an international festival in New York The number of films produced in Morocco during the past year has reached 40 films for which Monsters has not chosen.
I think that the Moroccan Film Center has many people working with the pre-judgmental mentality to govern yourself. I will tell you my experience with the Cinematographic Center. For years, I had a screenplay for one of my films before the support committee at the Cinematographic Center, during which I was asked questions such as: "Why did not you name the film in Arabic?" Why did you choose to take the film with Amazigh?
I did not hear a single question about the output of the film, the colors, the lenses chosen for photography, narration, distribution, production .... I do not think I would have heard such strange questions if the film had been Arabic.
I went to CCM to discuss my film, but I felt like I was accused of something, as if I were being taken to a police station.I was not the only one to suffer from the exclusion of the film center, the film "A Mile Away by My Shoes" by Said Khallaf of Tangier. But when the film won prizes at a festival outside Morocco, the film was immedialely selected in Tangiers, awards. Let us not forget that CCM film tried to discourage Mr. Abdel Salam Kalai from becoming a director. Imagine what we would have lost if he had taken their advice. Moroccan cinema and television would have lost great works such as "Malak" and "Ain Al Haq"
For lack of support, CCM argues that the "Munsters"has not cost much money. Let me tell you that the amount spent on the film exceeded what was spent on films that received 400,000 dirhams of support. First: Our team was composed of professionals from Morocco, United States, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico City, Canada.Second: Most films in Morocco employ one person to perform montage, sound, music, color casting ...
For Münsters we brought together professionals in his specialty, music composer, sound collector, montage ... Mixage audio was done in a studio in Chicago with 5.1 technology. I think that the removal of the "Munsters" from the support was for reasons other than the argument of CCM.
The films selected for the Tangier Festival are often the same as those supported. In my opinion this is wrong. Not all subsidized films deserve to open the door to participate in the festival before others and leave the judgment to the public.
I thinkCCM does not help Moroccan cinema. His message is: We do not want the participation of Diaspora Moroccans in building Moroccan cinema, especially the Amazighs and those who do not come from the Francophone countries.
Based on these facts I am not qualified to support or participate in festivals, perhaps I should go to France or Rabat first and then bring out a film Baldraga to get their approval.
Do not support the film and not choose to participate in the festival will prompt you to market the film outside Morocco
Akcil :Yes of course, that was the first goal, even if we had the support and participated in the festival. Marketing the film abroad has been and remains our priority. I always try to make films that anyone in the world can see, not just rural and Moroccan scenes. The language of the film is not important, the real language is not in the dialogue; it is in the narrative through the picture. As Hitchcock says: "If the film is good, we can remove the sound and keep the viewer a clear idea of what is going on in the screen
