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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And Then Come the Nightjars review – farmer and vet at centre of drama of rural life

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This screen adaptation of Bea Roberts’s play has a compelling concept but yields disappointing results

Based on a play – a painfully obvious fact given the stiltedness of the dialogue – by Bea Roberts, this small-scale British drama revolves almost entirely around two characters who are followed over a number of years. The early scenes, set in 2001, establish the affectionate friendship between Devon dairy farmer Michael (David Fielder), recently widowed and judging by the beard eligible for a pension soon, and local veterinarian Jeff (Nigel Hastings), a younger man with a budding drink problem.

When foot-and-mouth disease reaches their neck of the moors, Jeff is compelled to put down Michael’s entire herd according to governmental guidelines. Michael tries to resist with an unloaded shotgun and some choice curse words aimed at the ministerial enforcers who accompany Jeff, but there’s no stopping the forces of change. As the years pass, agriculture itself comes under threat in a rural economy increasingly skewing towards offering hospitality for wealthy visitors who want to capture sunsets on Instagram rather than see where their meat and milk comes from.

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