DIRECTOR: Nabil Ayouch
PRODUCERS: Nabil Ayouch, Amine Benjelloun, Alexandra Henochsberg, Bruno Nahon
PRODUCTION CO: Ali n' Productions, Les Films du Nouveau Monde, Unite de Production 
SCREENPLAY: Nabil Ayouch, Maryam Touzani
PHOTOGRAPHY: Amine Messadi, Virginie Surdej
EDITORS: Marie-Hélène Dozo, Julia Gregory, Yassir Hamani
MUSIC: Fabien Kourtzer, Mike Kourtzer

WITH: Anas Basbousi (Anas), Ismail Adouab (Ismail), Zineb Boujemaa (Zineb), Meryem Nekkach (Meryem), Nouhaila Arif (Nouhaila), Abdelilah Basbousi (Abdou), Mehdi Razzouk (Mehdi), Amina Kannan (Amina), Samah Barigou (Samah)


​FESTIVALS: Cannes

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REVIEWS

“The Arabic title of Franco-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s empowering hip-hop fable translates loosely as “rise your voice”, while in France, where the film competed for the Cannes Palme d’Or, it’s known as Haut et fort— “high and loud”. Both monikers perfectly capture the vibrant spirit of this stirring street musical, described by its creator as arising out of “the desire to make a film to give voice to young people”.

On one level it’s a patchwork of popular cinematic tropes, combining the strength-through-music themes of films as diverse as 8 Mile and School of Rock with the inspirational classroom formats of everything from Blackboard Jungle to Dead Poets Society.

But there’s also a strong whiff of the discursive politics of Ken Loach’s Land of Freedom, mixed with the accessible rebellion of Jafar Panahi’s Offside or Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang — a heady brew indeed.

With original music by Mike and Fabien Kourtzer and performance scenes that take the cast from the classroom to the recording studio, the stage and beyond, Casablanca Beats has an infectious energy that pulls us into the ever-changing worlds of its characters. Crucially, it does so in a manner that is both enticing and accessible, giving a platform to the young voices that Ayouch passionately believes are a positive force in increasingly troubled times, offering “a sign that the world is changing”. On this evidence, it’s hard to disagree.”

– Mark Kermode, Observer

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FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Dunedin     
Wednesday, 07 August, 7.30pm

Timaru    
Tuesday, 20 August, 6.30pm​

Bigger Picture Ōamaru     
Thursday, 29 August, 7.00pm​

Queenstown     
Tuesday, 10 September, 8.00pm​

Nelson
​Wednesday, 18 September, 6.00pm

​Palmerston North     
Wednesday, 25 September, 6.00pm

Auckland     
Monday, 07 October, 6.15pm​​

Whanganui
​Monday, 14 October, 7.00pm

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French Connections is presented in
​co-operation with the Institut Français and the Embassy of France