My official list of the best Maghrebi cinema (local and diasporic) has to offer bc frankly I'm tired of the seemingly endless cycle of garbage being churned out recently. It's upsetting me and my homegirls. So here's to a return to form, to beauty, pageantry, moxie and capital R Risk!

An ode to my beloved accidental film historian and north star Ahmed Bouanani's posthumous book La Septième Porte which charted the history of Moroccan cinema from 1907 to 1986.

Disclaimer: This is by no means an exhaustive list as I've deliberately left out certain titles/filmmakers. This is a list based on my personal tastes/sensibilities which tend to be more on the fantastique/magic realism/oral history side of things. The list is evidently very Moroccan focused because Moroccan cinema is at the heart of my research/curatorial practice + I am Moroccan duh but if you want to plumb the depths of what Algerian cinema has to offer (past and present) look no further than the brilliant and tireless work conducted by Les Archives numériques du cinéma algérien!

Check notes for additional information regarding the conception/production/distribution and dissemination of these works, updated as I go along from multiple sources including the wealth of Maghrebi film magazines of the 70s !!

For now, go here if you'd like to learn more: www.instagram.com/dhakiracollective/

Some titles that are not on Letterboxd yet but are worth mentioning:
-Ibn al-Ghaba / L'enfant de la jungle (1941-1943) by then 14 year old Mohamed Osfour who is considered the father and pioneer of Moroccan cinema.
-Amok, l'invincible (1954) by Mohamed Osfour
-Les plongeurs du désert / The Desert Divers / Ghattasun
al-sahra (1953): The first Algerian film by the pioneer of Algerian cinema / renowned cinematographer Tahar Hannache. Restoration of the film is currently underway.
-Itinéraire singulier d’un cinéaste algérien en à l’époque coloniale (2012) by Ouahmi Ould-Braham
-Un jour de paix en Algérie: le temps d’une image (1964) by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina (Algeria)
-Le Cadavre Encerclé (1963) by Kateb Yacine (Algeria)
-La Goutte (1982) by Belkacem Hadjadj (Algeria)
-Latif Lahlou's rural trilogy: Et ils cultivèrent la betterave (1963), Sin Agafaye (1967) and Du côté de la Tassaoute (1968) (Morocco)
-La Longue Journée /The Breadwinner (1969) by Mohamed Abbazi (Morocco) (long considered to be "lost" and/or "unfinished", the film rushes were found but the sound is no more so it's just silent footage but still very VERY beautiful and deserves a spot in the canon certainly)
-Sentiers perdus (1971) by Abdellah Bayahya (Morocco)
-The Killers / al-Qatiluun (1978) by Mohamed Abouelouakar (Russia) (his graduate film from VGIK based on an adaptation of Hemingway's story of the same title)
-The City of Memory / Madinat al-Thikrah (1977) by Mohamed Abouelouakar (a short documentary about his home town Marrakech)
-La fillette et le papillon (1980) by Azzeddine Meddour (Algeria)
-La Moitié du ciel d'Allah (1995) by Djamila Sahraoui (Algeria)
-Beau Geste (2009) by Yto Barrada (Morocco)
-Wacław (1969) by Abdelkader Lagtaâ (Poland) (made during his studies at Łódź Film School)
-But Hope Is of a Different Colour (1972) by Abdelkader Lagtaâ (Poland) (made during his studies at Łódź Film School)
-Amghar (1968) by Mostafa Derkaoui (For his first short student film in Lódź (a silent 4-minute fiction film), Derkaoui focused on the history of Amazigh Moroccan resistance, and shot a historical re-enactment in the Polish countryside. Abdelkader Lagtaa acted in the film whilst Derkaoui’s brother, Abdelkrim was behind the camera. For this film, Derkaoui was inspired by a book lent to him before his departure by fellow Moroccan filmmakers, Ahmed Bouanani and Mustapha Khayat)
-People from the cellar (1969) by Mostafa Derkaoui (Poland) (student film made during his studies at Łódź Film School)
-L'ombre du guardien (1985) by Saïd Souda (Morocco)