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Casablanca / Dakar

ALI, a Moroccan architect, is working in Dakar, Senegal. His wife Mariam, still in Casablanca, is expecting a baby. With the onset of COVID-19, Morocco closes its borders to prevent the spread of the virus. Ali, who was just getting ready to join his wife for the birth, can no longer buy a plane ticket. He finds himself in a total impasse. He embarks on an adventure in a van carrying merchandise destined for Morocco. But to his great surprise, he discovers that the van is really loaded with Senegalese seeking to migrate to Europe. The trip from Dakar to Casablanca becomes a journey filled with misadventures.

  • Ahmed Boulane
    Director
    Ali, Rabia and the Others, The Satanic Angels, The Return of the Son, La Isla
  • Ahmed Boulane
    Writer
    Ali, Rabia and the Others, The Satanic Angels, The Return of the Son, La Isla
  • Ahmed Boulane
    Producer
    Ali, Rabia and the Others, The Satanic Angels, The Return of the Son, La Isla
  • Anas El Baz
    Key Cast
    "Ali"
    Casanegra
  • Issa Ndiaye
    Key Cast
    "Adama"
    La Isla de Perejil
  • Axel Abessolo
    Key Cast
    "Mamadou"
  • Bruno Henry
    Key Cast
    "Youssoufa"
  • Zineb Abbad El Andaloussi
    Key Cast
    "Mariam"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    November 20, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    900,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Morocco
  • Country of Filming:
    Morocco
  • Language:
    Arabic, French
  • Shooting Format:
    Scope
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Burdigala Production
    Sales Agent
    Country: France
    Rights: Paid TV
Director Biography - Ahmed Boulane

Ahmed Boulane was born in Salé, Morocco in 1956. He was an actor with the Moroccan National Theater company and the national Moroccan radio theater troupe from 1974 to 1977. After an extended stay in Italy, he began a rich and varied career in cinema and television as actor, location manager, assistant director, casting director, and awarded screenwriter/director/producer. In 1996 he created his production company, Boulane O'Bryne Production to produce “Ali, Rabiaa and the Others”, a film that earned him both critical acclaim and the respect of the public. It is currently considered to be one of Morocco’s ten classic films.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"CASABLANCA-DAKAR" is a comedy-drama about the misadventures of Ali, a young Moroccan architect working on a project in Dakar. His wife Mariam, who has stayed in Casablanca, is expecting a baby. In late March 2020, following the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, Morocco, which has tested positive for the virus in twenty cases, closes its borders. Ali, who is about to join his wife to attend the birth, cannot get a plane ticket for the trip. He finds himself in a total impasse, which leads him to embark on a tragicomic journey.
The film revolves around the theme of freedom of movement: both
the desire to move and the inability to go anywhere.
The script features immigrants who want to leave their country for what they imagine to be a better future and a man, Ali, who finds himself stranded outside his country when his government closes its borders to prevent a medical emergency. To resolve their dilemmas, they all seek an illegal way out: crossing the world's largest desert at a moment in history when the world closes down on itself.
"CASABLANCA-DAKAR" is a road movie. In contrast to the tragicomic situations and the inherent humanity behind the characters’ choice to free themselves from their circumstances, the film takes place in a particularly stark environment: a desert devoid of vegetation, inhospitable and hostile, with sand dunes as far as the eye can see.
The film will place itself in a Western genre, oscillating
between wide shots that mirror the vastness of the desert and
extreme close-ups that express the thoughts of the main
character in the solitude of his dramatic decision.
The film will be accompanied by an African musical beat that
evolves into symphonic music in the dramatic moments of the
story.