The Mother of All Lies review – pursuing the truth of Morocco’s brutal dictatorship years

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Asmae El Moudir employs a delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony to brilliantly evoke personal and collective trauma Between those who refuse to remember and those who struggle to forget, a tumultuous clash of minds occupies the centre of Asmae El Moudir’s inventive documentary, a prize-winner at last year’s Cannes film festival. Through a constellation of clay figurines and dollhouse-style miniature sets, most of which were constructed by El Moudir’s father, the director recreates her oppressive childhood in the Sebata district of Casablanca. Under the watchful eyes of her domineering grandmother Zahra, all personal photos are banished from the house, save for a picture of King Hassan II. The delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony brilliantly evokes the personal and collective trauma that stem from Morocco’s “Years of Lead” – a period of state brutality under Hassan II’s dictatorial rule. Lingering on the nimble fingers of El Moudir’s father as he puts t
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Radji review – moving depiction of Sami herders and their reindeer

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This documentary follows Sami families as they fight the Norwegian government for the right to take animals along routes used for generations

The Indigenous Sami people have lived in Scandinavia for thousands of years, making a living from hunting, fishing and herding reindeer. This mild-mannered but often moving documentary charts one community’s fight to continue herding its reindeer along routes that have been used for generations. The film isn’t doing anything very new: it’s a classic David and Goliath story that pits its plucky Sami underdogs against a big, bad foe (in this case the Norwegian government); but it looks ravishing and is never less than completely engaging.

Much of the film is spent with herder Simon Marainen, a lonely figure who has taken over the family flock after his two brothers killed themselves and is now passing his skills down to his children. As summer looms, the Marainens’ reindeer migrate to Norway, then mooch back to Sweden for the winter. Herding them, it turns out, isn’t a Christmassy lark, but tough work for tough people, requiring stoutness in bad weather and serious physical strength. Yet it’s beautiful work, too, done on snowmobiles beneath huge pink skies that will make you yearn to jack in your old routines and find simpler ones.

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