Headbang Lullaby
SECTION: International Competition 2017
SCREENINGS
Sunday, 01.10., 8.00 p.m., kommkino, Q&A with Jirari Benaissa
Monday, 02.10., 9.30 p.m., kommkino
SYNOPSIS
On 11th June 1986, Morocco’s national football team caused a sensation. It became the first African team to qualify for the World Cup’s round of 16, bringing a ray of hope during these “Years of Lead”, a period of political oppression. Against this backdrop, Hicham Lasri has made a work of pure rock and roll. Daoud is a jaded and traumatized cop who is given the task of guarding a bridge in the middle of nowhere on this day. A bridge under which the king may travel. “Encounters with government supporters and the families of political prisoners; the mysterious appearance of a foreign woman and a Berber, as well as the story of a football crazy boy all prove to be a bit much for Daoud. Ever since the bloody ‘bread riots’ five years earlier, he has felt paralyzed. But the euphoria and the hope he encounters here help to lift his mood. The Moroccan team’s success unleashes a new self-confidence and lust for life that transcends the surreal shadow of the monarchy.” (Berlinale 2017, Panorama)
HICHAM LASRI
Born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1977, he studied economy and law then wrote theatre plays, novels and screenplays before turning to film. In 2011 he made his debut feature The End, about the last days of King Hassan, which was critically acclaimed. In They are the Dogs (2013) he drew parallels between the 2011 Arab Spring and the 1981 ‘bread riots’ in Morocco. The work on this film, produced by noted Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch, was supported by the Cannes Film Festival’s ACID programme. His films The Sea is Behind and Starve your Dog and Headbang Lullaby screened in the Panorama section of Berlinale.
FILMOGRAPHY
The End (2011), They Are the Dogs (2013), The Sea is Behind (2014), Starve Your Dog (2015), Headbang Lullaby (2017)
WEBSITE
http://ptd.lu/headbang-lullaby/
