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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James Dean auction offers unseen items showing new side to star

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Nearly 400 items, including personal letters, provide insight into the life of the actor who died at the age of 24

It could only be him. James Dean is squinting and smiling, a cigarette hanging from his lip, and wearing a leather jacket and glove. The silver gelatin photo from a 1955 motorcycle session is a classic Hollywood portrait but it is also unique. It measures 13.5in x 10.25in and has an inscription, written with a dark blue ballpoint pen, from Dean to his agent Jane Deacy: “To Mom / My heart and thanks / Jim.”

The actor regarded “Lady Jane”, as Deacy was called, as a second mother because his biological mother, Mildred, died of uterine cancer when he was nine years old, and he was estranged from his stepmother.

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