Ali, Kwita, Omar, and Boukber are a group of street urchins living on the hard streets of Casablanca. Their everyday lives are filled with violence, begging, and indifference. In order to survive they create a bond of friendship and family between then. The bond is cut short when Ali is senselessly killed at the beginning of the film by a blow to the head; his life taken by a single act of a rival gang. Ali’s friends decide not to report his death to the police, who would have the boy buried in a potter’s field. Instead they decide to give him a worthy burial, to bury Ali on the private island he so often dreamed of. Ali Zaoua captures the power of dreams and presence of hope in the harshest of circumstances. –Film Movement

Director

Nabil Ayouch

Nabil Ayouch, a Moroccan filmmaker, was born in Paris in 1969. Ayouch directed his first feature, Mektoub (1997), then Ali Zaoua (2000), A Minute of Sun Less (2003), and Whatever Lola Wants (2007). His films have won many prizes around the world. Mektoub and Ali Zaoua represented Morocco at the Oscars in 1998 and 2001. Ayouch regularly returns to live events, since he designs and directs the closing event of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) and the opening of Temps du Maroc at the Château de Versailles. Over the last 10 years his company, Ali n’ Productions, has discovered and produced many young talents. In 2011, Nabil Ayouch directed My Land, his first feature documentary. He is preparing his next feature film, Les étoiles de Sidi Moumen. Awards: Music and Editing, National Festival of Film, Tangier, Morocco. —bostonpalestinefilmfest.org