Programa

This course examines the ways in which post-colonial North African cinema has addressed political violence and transitional justice. We will use Morocco's post-"Years of Lead" period as a case study to investigate how filmmakers have challenged official narratives, negotiated censorship, and aided in national reconciliation. Students will gain a profound understanding of cinema as a vehicle for memory, resistance, and human rights advocacy through film screenings, lectures, comparative discussions, and transregional perspectives.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Analyze the aesthetic and political strategies used by North African filmmakers.
Understand the historical context of transitional justice in Morocco and the broader North Africa region.
Critically assess the role of state-sponsored vs. independent cinema in shaping collective memory.
Draw transregional comparisons with Latin American cinematic responses to authoritarianism.

Assessment and Grading:
Active Participation (40%): Engagement in class discussions is essential. Students are expected to have completed the required readings and viewed the films before each session and come prepared to contribute their insights.
Student-Led Presentation (60%): On Day 4, students will deliver a brief (10-15 minute) presentation. The presentation will compare a North African film discussed in class with a South American film (e.g., The Official Story or another relevant example), focusing on a key theme such as state violence, memory, or resistance.

Course Schedule:
Day 1: Allegory Under Authoritarianism
- Topics: Censorship, symbolism, and resistance in early North African cinema.
- Film: Wechma (Hamid Bennani, Morocco, 1970)
- Readings:
- Carter, Sandra G. "Constructing an independent Moroccan nation and national identity through cinema and institutions." The Journal of North African Studies 13.4 (2008): 531-559. This article provides historical context on the institutional and political landscape in which early Moroccan filmmakers like Hamid Bennani were working.
- Peralta García, Lidia. "Films in transition: the rhetorical embodiment of the Years of Lead in Moroccan cinema (2000–2018)." The Journal of North African Studies 28.2 (2023): 325-346. This reading introduces key cinematic strategies used to represent the "Years of Lead," offering a framework for analyzing Wechma as a foundational text.

Day 2: State-Sponsored Memory and Its Limits
- Topics: The Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER), official memory, and documentary cinema.
- Films: Mother of All Lies (Asmae El Moudir, Morocco, 2023) + Excerpts from IER-commissioned documentaries
- Readings:
- Slyomovics, Susan. The Performance of Human Rights in Morocco. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. This book is a foundational study of the IER's public hearings. The selected chapters will help you critically analyze the concept of "official memory" and contrast it with the personal, counter-narrative presented in Mother of All Lies.

Day 3: Independent Voices and Grassroots Resistance
- Topics: Indigenous cinema, environmental justice, and grassroots filmmaking.
- Film: Amussu (Nadir Bouhmouch, Morocco, 2019)
- Readings:
- Bogaert, Koenraad, and Soraya El Kahlaoui. "The Imider protest camp: resistance by repossession and lived citizenship at the global margins of Moroccan society." Citizenship Studies 28.6 (2024): 632-653. This article provides the direct socio-political context of the Imider movement shown in the film, exploring it as a form of grassroots citizenship.
- Bahmad, Jamal. "Three Hundred Kilometers South of Marrakech: Imider, Artivism, and the Environmental Documentary in Morocco." Documentary Filmmaking in the Middle East and North Africa (2021): 345-358. This article connects the Imider protest to trends in environmental documentary and "artivism" in Morocco, offering a critical lens for analyzing the film Amussu.

Day 4: Transregional Dialogues and Final Reflections
- Topics: Comparative cinema, student presentations, and collaborative analysis.
- Film: I'm Still Here (Walter Salles, Brazil, 2024)
- Activities: Student-led presentations and discussions comparing Maghrebi and South American films.
- Suggested Films for Comparison:
- The Official Story (Luis Puenzo, Argentina, 1985)
- I'm Still Here (Walter Salles, Brazil, 2024)

Note on Course Materials: All required readings will be provided electronically. Films will be screened in class.

Required Viewing (Filmography):
Wechma, Hamid Bennani, Morocco, 1970.
Mother of All Lies, Asmae El Moudir, Morocco, 2023.
Amussu, Nadir Bouhmouch, Morocco, 2019.
I'm Still Here, Walter Salles, Brazil, 2024.

Bibliography (Selected Readings):
Armes, Roy. Postcolonial Images: Studies in North African Film. Indiana University Press, 2005.
Bahmad, Jamal. “Insurgent Citizenship: Youth, Political Activism and Citizen Cinema in Post-2011 Morocco.” Journal of African Cinemas 11, no. 2 (2019): 131–140.
Page, Joanna. Crisis and Nostalgia: The Political Film in Post-Dictatorship Argentina. Duke University Press, 2014.
Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media. Routledge, 2014.
Slyomovics, Susan. The Performance of Human Rights in Morocco. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005.