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Rabat – Moroccan filmmaker Jihan El Bahhar has seduced the Portuguese public.
El Bahhar’s film “Au pays des merveilles” (In Wonderland) won two awards during the Figueira Film Art 2018 festival that took place from August 27 to September 2 in Portugal.
The Moroccan movie received the award for best screenplay and best actor for Aziz Dadas.
“Au pays des merveilles” tells the story of a rich and arrogant woman who is forced to live with a poor family in the Atlas Mountains.
The director chose the genre of comedy to evoke situations of suffering. The feature highlights the difficulties of people living in rural Morocco, especially in the mountainous and remote regions. The director wanted to show the other side of Morocco, the one that is far from the big cities.
The movie starred a number of Moroccan actors, like Majdouline El Idrissi, Aziz Dadas, Mohamed Echoubi, Malek Akhmiss, Houda Sidqi, and Fadwa Taleb.
El Bahhar’s production has won numerous national and international awards. In May, the filmmaker won the screenwriting award during the fourth “Gulf of Naples Independent Film Festival” in Italy.
Nationally, “Au pays des merveilles” has won six prizes. The feature won the jury prize and best director award at the third Saidia Festival in northeast Morocco.
In addition, the movie received the award for best screenplay, a special mention for the actress of the film Majda Zaoui, and the best actress award for Houda Sedki during the second “Ciné plage festival” (Beach Movie Festival) in Harhoura, near Rabat.
Last year, the film has attracted more than 93,600 people in theaters from January to June. “Au pays des merveilles” took first place in the Moroccan box office.
During her career, El Bahhar has participated in the writing of several sitcoms, including “Lalla Fatema,” “Dar Oumi Hnia,” and “Yak Yak Hna Jiran,” before devoting herself to production. Her first short film “Shift + Delete” won several awards at national and international festivals.
