Pirates of Salé

+Family Friendly
+Paired with Shorts
+Morocco

Sunday, 11/8 at St. Anthony Main Theatre
1:00 p.m.

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Directors: Rosa Rogers and Merieme Addou
Documentrary feature, family, 79 minutes
Country: Morocco/UK/France
Languages: Arabic/French
Special preview

Synopsis: On Morocco’s old pirate coast, in the city of Salé, a new generation of pirates are setting sail in Morocco’s first ever professional circus. Cirque Shems’y sits on the edge of one of Morocco’s poorest slums, and hundreds of teenagers come to audition each year hoping to find a new future in the circus. Pirates of Salé tells the story of four of these young performers on a tough journey of transformation. Hajar is a talented aerialist who was living on the streets until she joined the circus; Imed is a dazzling performer who sees circus as a way to challenge corruption in Morocco; Rizlan is fighting for a life of creative freedom rather than arranged marriage; and Abd’Ali has to succeed to support his nine brothers and sisters at home.

Rosa Rogers began her filmmaking career with short experimental dance and poetry films, which won awards at festivals around the world. She was drawn to the world of documentaries and over the past few years has directed many short documentaries for leading UK broadcasters which have been shown across several continents. Prize winning films include: The Greatest Show on Earth. Her first feature documentary was Casablanca Calling (2014), following the work of Morocco’s new generation of female Muslim leaders, is currently nominated for a One World Media Award, 2015.

Merieme Addou was born in Morocco and graduated from Mohammed V University with a degree in Law. She lives and works in Rabat as freelance correspondent for Radio D-W. She has also been a Producer for Camino Media, a Moroccan production company based in Rabat. Merieme has worked as an assistant to the BBC correspondent in Morocco, as a correspondent for Kuwait TV, and as an AP for Al Jazeera International. She produced a documentary for Moroccan national television about Orson Welles and his relationship with the city of Essouaira, and a series of programmes about Moroccan women in history. She has just completed an MA in Documentary Film at the University of Tetouan.

Showing with “Made of Clay” and “Ball of Hope“; Kid Friendly