The true story of Moroccan writer Mohamed Choukri, who grew up in poverty and illiteracy, with a violent father and a submissive mother who was the family's sole source of support.
Acting
Saïd Taghmaoui's simmering rage barely contained.
Direction
Benhadj's unflinching gaze at childhood desperation.
Director
Mohamed Rachid Benhadj
Saïd Taghmaoui
Young Mohamed Choukri
Fayçal Zeghadi
Mohamed Choukri (13 years old)
Sanaa Alaoui
Mimouna (Mohamed's mother)
Ahmed El Kouraichi
Kabil (smuggler)
Jamil Hammoudi
Ali
Francesca Codispoti
Harrouda (prostitute)
Giovanna Ria
Bushra (deaf-mute)
Armando De Razza
Boualem (cafe owner)
Hamid Basket
Abdelmalek (the scribe)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Saïd Taghmaoui learned classical Arabic for the role; Choukri's actual memoir was written in Darija, Moroccan street Arabic considered 'low' culture.
The title refers to Choukri's 1972 autobiography, famously praised by Tennessee Williams and translated by Paul Bowles—who appears as a character in the film.
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