Beneath a Mother's Feet

A young Moroccan mother, trapped in a mundane existence, confronts her dreams and fears, ultimately risking everything to escape her oppressive life and search for a new beginning.

  • Elias Suhail
    Director
  • Elias Suhail
    Writer
  • Arij Al-Soltan
    Producer
    Baghdad Central, Korean Lovers in Baghdad, Safia, Tabbouleh & Pie
  • Nisrine Adam
    Key Cast
    "Wedad"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 31 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 11, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    70,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    Morocco
  • Country of Filming:
    Morocco
  • Language:
    Arabic
  • Shooting Format:
    Sony Venice
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Elias Suhail

Elias is a British-Moroccan writer and filmmaker whose work explores the complexities of the human condition, liminalities and those who exist on the cultural margins.

He has had work performed to live audiences at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama as part of ‘Margins to Mainstream with Michael Sheen’; his work has also been featured on BBC Sounds and published in The New Statesman.

Beneath a Mother’s Feet is Elias’s directorial debut.

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Director Statement

Beneath a Mother's Feet excavates the past, illuminating a critical juncture in my mother's life.

As a young woman in her native Morocco, she found herself ensnared by circumstance. A divorcee raising two young children while residing with her parents in a humble one-room bungalow, she struggled to envision a future for herself. In the midst of her emotional turmoil, my mother clandestinely sold her gold bangles from her dowry, secured a passport, and took a fateful step away from her life, leaving her children and everything she had known.

This film seeks to re-envision the moments leading up to her departure, unearthing the labyrinth of complex emotions she undoubtedly experienced.

In part, this short film serves as an inquiry into the narratives that have been orally woven and embellished through generations of my family. Yet, on a broader level, it unveils a tale of the intricate boundaries of maternal ambivalence and self-discovery.

I invite you to immerse yourself in the story of a young woman wrestling with the challenges of motherhood, attempting to reconcile her identity and her aspirations for the future.

Through this cinematic journey, I explore themes of traditional gender constraints, the struggles of motherhood, self-identity, and the often-taboo subject of parental regret—a topic that transcends cultural and geographical divides.