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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Tell That to the Winter Sea review – teenagers’ woozy, blushing tale of first love

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Flashbacks reveal an all-consuming bond when two friends reunite at a hen night in a country cottage

Filled with luscious shades of pastel pinks, blues and greens, the warm colour palette of Jaclyn Bethany’s latest feature blushes with the heady glow of summer. Like a bruised fruit, however, the sugary imagery belies unexpected notes of bitterness, as the film plumbs the complex depths of female relationship and the everlasting spell of first love. Led by an all-female cast, the mood is beguilingly woozy, even conspiratorial.

Friends in their teens as dance students, Scarlet (Amber Anderson) and Jo (Greta Bellamacina) reunite as adults for the latter’s hen night at a countryside cottage. Other guests will soon arrive, but much of the film hinges on the palpable tension and intimacy between the two women. Nearly opposite in temperament – Scarlet is reserved while Jo is more flamboyant – the pair finds their life paths have starkly diverged in terms of love and career. Resentment and hurt float to the surface, as flashbacks reveal that their all-consuming bond in the past has also been a romantic one. Their nostalgic conversations are dotted with stolen glances and hesitant pauses. They encapsulate that very specific push and pull between once-close confidants, who struggle to perceive each other with fresh eyes.

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