The latest feature film by French-Moroccan filmmaker Leïla Kilani, «Indivision», will be screened at the Alcazar cinema in Tangier on June 8 at 7 pm. The film, shot in the same city, is part of the World Environment Day (June 5) celebrations organized nationally by the Moroccan Coalition for Climate Justice (CMJC). The screening is the result of a partnership between the CMJC and the director, which aims to combine the film with «discussions and hearings on environmental issues» facing society. On this theme, a round table is planned for June 28 in Rabat under the title «Our Land. Our Future», echoing the UN slogan for 2024. Kilani describes «Indivision» as an «eco-poetic fable» that explores «essential themes related to climate change, environmental protection and the land». Diaspo #320 highlights Kilani's exploration of cinema's ability to create innovative collective experiences. Set against a family inheritance story in Tangier, «Indivision» portrays «a conflict over property». «It raises fundamental questions about our relationship with nature and the environment and encourages reflection on our collective responsibility to future generations and the planet», according to a statement from the film team. The story takes place over the hills of Tangier, in the center of the forest where a dilapidated house stands: La Mansouria. Lina lives there with her father Anis, her grandmother Amina, and the housekeeper. The grandmother pushes her relatives to accept a deal to sell the property and become millionaires. But Anis, steadfast in his refusal to sell to property developers, even renounces his own stake in the land and donates it, for eternity, to birds, which fascinate him so much. Unfortunately, a fire ravages the forest, signaling the start of a series of events that question the role of humans within their environment.
«Indivision» premiered in Morocco at the recent Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM 2023). It has also received recognition at several festivals, including the Montreal New Cinema Festival (Innovation Award), the Fameck Arab Film Festival (Grand Prize), the African Cinemas Festival in Apt (Young Jury Prize) and, most recently, the Casa Africa Prize at the Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival (FCAT) on June 1st. The choice of the Alcazar Cinema for the Tangier screening is significant. One of the oldest cinemas in Morocco to reopen after decades of closure, the Alcazar was founded in 1913. The film team calls it «a true cultural jewel that has shaped the collective memory of the people of Tangier». Since its reopening in March 2022 under the management of the TanjAflam association, this historic venue has embodied «the renaissance of Tangier's artistic identity» and its ongoing cultural influence.
