By Chaimae Boulifa
Rabat – The feature-length film ‘In Wonderland’, directed by Jihane El Bahhar, has arrived in first place at Morocco’s box office. During 2017’s first semester (January 1 to June 30), the movie registered 93,642 ticket sales and MAD 4,493,865 in revenue, according to a statistical table published by the Moroccan Cinematographic Center (CCM).
The movie has also come out on top of international in Moroccan movie theatres, overcoming the American movie ‘Fast and Furious 8’, which came in second place, registering 60,967 ticket sales and MAD 3,187,459 in revenue.
‘In Wonderland’ has also recently won six awards at the second edition of Harhoura’s Ciné-Plage festival and at the third edition of the festival Cinema without Borders in Saïdia city.
The Saïdia festival gave El Bahhar’s movie the Best Director and the Jury awards, as well as the Best Actor and Actress awards that went to Aziz Dades and Fadwa Taleb, two actors in the film.
The Ciné-Plage festival, which took place on the sands of Sidi El Abd beach in Harhoura, awarded ‘In Wonderland’ the Best Screenwriter Award, the Best Actress Award which went to Houda Sedki, and a Special Mention to the actress Majda Zaoui.
Released last March, the film tells the story of a rich and arrogant woman who is forced to live with a poor family near the High Atlas Mountains.
Through the movie, the director aimed to shed light, through comedy, on the difficult conditions through which people are forced to live due to a lack of basic infrastructure.
“My purpose, from this movie, is to awake the viewers’ feelings and leave positive sensations as an invitation to think and contemplate,” stated El Bahhar.
