Best Moroccan drama movies

A social drama about four marginalized prostitutes in Marrakech and their complex relations with their families and society at large.

The film follows two brothers over the course of a decade. While they begin as kids in search of thrills in the sprawling slums of Morocco’s Sidi Moumen, we witness their gradual, and ultimately shocking, radicalisation.

Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.

Following a stint behind bars, a thief returns to where he buried his loot, only to find that his hiding spot is now a shrine to an unknown saint.

Abla runs a modest local bakery from her home in Casablanca where she lives alone with her 8-year-old daughter Warda. Their routine of housework and homework is interrupted one day by a knock on the door. It is Samia, a young woman looking for a job and a roof over her head. The little girl is immediately taken with the newcomer, but her mother initially refuses to allow a pregnant stranger into their home. Gradually, however, Abla's resolve softens and Samia's arrival begins to offer all of them the prospect of a new life.

War seen through the eyes of Serra, a university student from Palermo who volunteers in 1942 to fight in Africa. He is assigned to the Pavia Division on the southern line in Egypt. Rommel and the Axis forces are bogged down; it's October, the British prepare an offensive. At first, boredom, heat, hunger, and thirst bedevil the Italians; then the Brits attack, and there's no luck or heroism in death. Finally, it's retreat in confusion. Serra, his sergeant Rizzo, and his lieutenant Fiori take a last walk toward home. It's said that each soldier gets three miracles; when Serra's are used up, what then?

A Moroccan-Norwegian co-production about the dark side of Casablanca (Casanegra). In a country where good virtues are the norm in public, Casanegra shows the vices: domestic violence, alcohol abuse and drug abuse. Meet Karim and Adil and their struggle in the big city.

Santa Claus tries to outrun a gang of knife-wielding youth. It's one of several vignettes of Palestinian life in Israel - in a neighborhood in Nazareth and at Al-Ram checkpoint in East Jerusalem. Most of the stories are droll, some absurd, one is mythic and fanciful; few words are spoken. A man who goes through his mail methodically each morning has a heart attack. His son visits him in the hospital. The son regularly meets a woman at Al-Ram; they sit in a car, hands caressing. Once, she defies Israeli guards at the checkpoint; later, ninja-like, she takes on soldiers at a target range. A red balloon floats free overhead. Neighbors toss garbage over walls. Life goes on until it doesn't.

Zero is a police officer in his mid thirties, pacing the streets of Casablanca, surrounded by loss and futility, and the corruption of everyone around him.

After transferring to a high school near her home, Leila was initially pleased with her new position. However, she soon found herself facing significant challenges in Class 8, known for its difficulties. Two particularly troublesome students began causing her problems, which not only disrupted her professional life but also impacted her personal well-being.

The Gospel of Mark filmed by The Lumo Project which brings the original Jesus narrative to the screen using the Gospel text as its script, word for word. Informed by leading world experts' latest theological, historical and archaeological research on every aspect of life in first century Palestine, this is a ground breaking multi-million pound film series that revolutionises the way we experience and understand the story of Jesus.

A solitary young poet finds solace in wandering the city streets at dusk, gazing at the houses and the lives of passersby. One evening, he saves a young woman from suicide. Drawn together by this chance encounter, the two get to know each other and share their life stories with heartfelt sincerity. For the past year, she has been waiting for her lover, who has promised to marry her. Despite this, the poet falls in love with her. However, fate has different plans.

Hamid is a former volunteer who participated in the 1982 Lebanon War and returns from there with disappointment. He becomes homeless in the city of Casablanca. He resorts to theft and addiction to combat his homelessness and physical disability. His only dream in life is to bring his symphony into existence, so he asks the help from his homeless friends for that.

Casablanca, the year of the baccalaureate. The carefree life of Morocco's golden youth and all its excesses: car races, friendships, music, alcohol, but also first loves and the anxiety of transitioning to adulthood... Marock presents a side of Morocco that is often unknown, seen through the eyes of Rita, 17, who is determined to live life on her own terms.

In 1975, 10-year-old Amar lives in a village in northern Morocco with his violent uncle, waiting for the unlikely return of his mother, who has left for Belgium. He finds a friend in Carmen, his neighbor, who is a Spanish exile and who works as an usher at the village cinema. Carmen helps him discover a world previously unknown to him.

In search of a subject for their film, a group of directors ask passers-by about their expectations of Moroccan cinema in the streets and bars of Casablanca.

Malak, a teen girl, discovers she's pregnant. Rejected by the baby's dad, she faces a world that rejects her for being a single mum.

A both empathic and poetic drama set in the Moroccan countryside. Family, poverty, work and pride are the most important motivations of M’Barek, a poor farmer who fights to pay off his debts so that he can keep his land.

Casablanca, 2003. 14 young hard-rockers are arrested and condemned for sentences from 3 months to 1 year. What are the accusations? Satanism and shaking the foundations of Islam. Based on actual events.

Souadia's monotonous life changes after an encounter with a police officer (Amin) next to an orange tree

Steven and Abdel, two young Belgians, leave for Syria. One as a journalist, the other as a fighter. Yet they have more in common than you might think.

The only entertainment for 10-year-old Aya, a domestic helper, is some TV and her fantasies about the sea. With her handicapped neighbor, she seeks a way to make her dream come true.

The story of a man whose brother dies and tries to steal his inheritance and deprive his brother's wife and daughter from it (tachelhit film)

In Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.

In the early years of the reign of Hassan II, Houcine, a fan of the new king, is the director of a popular orchestra and the proud father of Mimou. This is a very particular troupe, male musicians who are sometimes forced to pretend that they are blind in order to play at parties reserved for women in conservative Moroccan families. But then young Minou runs into Chama, the neighbor’s new maid

the story of a young bourgeois woman who lost her husband. Through her quest for redemption, she discovers another world, where the people of the rural parts are suffering in silence.

Moroccan TV movie, its events revolve around the situation of a poor family living in one of the marginal neighbourhoods in the old city of Casablanca.

The life and times of a Casablanca cafe waiter.

A young woman attending a conference in Tangier with her husband is kidnapped and raped, but rebuilds her relationship with her husband on a trip to the south of Morocco.

10-year-old Mica, lives with his mother and sick father in a slums near Meknes. He starts apprenticing for his father’s friend, a handyman in a tennis club in Casablanca. After going through humiliation and even being physically abused, Mica starts to understand his situation, and does everything in his power to change it.

A young man drives a truck loaded with dates from southern Morocco into Tangiers.

Dallas is a director forced to make a film to get out of a bad financial situation, he associates with a rich businessman who is a passionate film cinephile. During the shooting, the main actor dies. A crazy adventure full of twists and turns and humor ensues.

Volubilis is a tale of love in a world of despair, of beauty among the ruins. In the Moroccan city of Meknès, recently married Abdelkader and Malika struggle to make ends meet. They dream of leaving the family house and finally starting a life of their own together. But one day at work, Abdelkader gets mixed up in a violent incident that will turn their lives upside down.

Salem and Souilem are two brothers with a disability who are trying to impose themselves within their community with funny situations through which the viewer discovers the suffering and reality of the disabled person in Moroccan society.

After the death of her father, 17 year-old Noufissa and her mother must go live in the mansion of Lalla Amina, the wife of an important Tetouan dignitary. There she develops a close friendship with Lalla Amina's granddaughter.

REMEMBERING IS NOT THAT EASY

A film in tachelhit about lHousine who returns to his brother and his village which he built his new home after he spent half of his life in the city. But things don't go well as he expected.

A young architect who lives in Paris, returns to his hometown Fès in Morocco to find answers to his painful childhood. His old Sufi master Ba Jelloul and his friend Aziz try to help him reconstruct himself.

Lawyer Nisrin tries to help the old man Ba Alall, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, after he is assaulted by a powerful businessman named Abdeljabbar, who is trying to take over his house without any legal rights. But Abdeljabbar, on the other hand, will not remain idly by as he tries to use his influence against her, which makes the conflict between them intensify.

Despite the difference in their upbringings and family lives, five young children become friends. Omar is in love with Yacine, a pretty, intelligent girl from a wealthy family. He decides to pen her a love letter, which ends up causing misunderstanding and a rift between him and his childhood love. Meanwhile, Demba falls in love with a beggar and they share 'secret' stares and tender touches in brief meetings each time. All the children seek advice from their mentor, who sells bicycle-rides at the beach-front. The innocence of childhood infatuation is cleverly layered over a troubled Senegal laboring under the strains of strike action and economic upheaval.

Mid-1990s, little town in Morocco and seemingly ordinary family. Fouad is dedicated to his work in local postal services. He is climbing the signal posts and tries to keep people’s connections running. He radiates warmth and is the soul of his family and local community. Until one day, his health begins to deteriorate and his mind starts to fade. Each day, his neurological disease gets worse and paralyzes his physical and mental health. Loved ones of Fouad are facing the challenge of reconciling the changing family dynamics and a fading life.

Fatimetu returns to the Wilaya of Smara for the funeral of her mother, after 16 years living in Spain. There she meets her brother Jatri, who is expecting his first child with Aichetu his wife, and her sister Hayat. Jatri tells her that she has inherited the family Khaimah and must care for her sister. Fatimetu reluctantly accepts the last will of her mother, though she is not sure how to take care of her sister as she can barely take care of herself.

Under the impacts of a changing climate, the world changes, it has already changed. In a distant and near future, both fantastic and absurd, men and wo-men survive as they can. Following a man, a slender figure between Tati and Buster Keaton, we discover through scenes of his daily life how devastating the effects of climate change are on humans and nature. How do we barricade against excessive heat or cold? How will it be to go to a supermarket, or a zoo filled with different animals and species? A disturbing and hilarious ride in the future, that is already our present.

The film is a police story centered on the character of "Ould Hamriya", a young man who lived a difficult childhood and a social situation that led him to the professionalism of theft and robbery of luxury villas with two partners, which created confusion among the security men who became after him everywhere

Mehdi decides to get Married. The problem is he's already a married man and a father of two. He wants to take a second spouse, but he doesn't know how to break the news to his wife, Hayat.

A 17-year-old girl struggles with an emotionally distant mother as her life takes a tragic turn. The mother joins a mystic ceremony to face her grief and the lost bond with her daughter.

“He lived at a little distance from his body, regarding his own acts with doubtful side-glances. He had an odd autobiographical habit which led him to compose in his mind from time to time a short sentence about himself containing a subject in the third person and a verb in the past tense.”

In a desperate attempt to make their voices heard by the government, two men and a woman, living in difficult circumstances in the Tin Shacks, take a diplomatic meeting with political officials, which turns into a hostage situation. Compelled by circumstances, they unwittingly find themselves cast in the role of terrorists, thereby exposing social inequalities and government indifference.

In Morocco, an old dyer and his young son Miloud work transporting wool packs. So begins this story in the hands of thousands of old men, women and children involved in meticulous weaving carpets.

A tragicomic story of several characters caught in a historic event, the cancellation of the sheep Aid in 1996: Lofti the amnesic, Mounir who is rejected by the family of the woman he wans to marry, a child who can't understand this cancellation and a person who needs help to commit suicide.

Ahmed Bouanani’s first feature film played a pivotal role in bringing experimentalism to Moroccan cinema. It’s a fable-like story of a poor young farmer who finds treasure in a flour bag. This takes him on a journey where nothing is as it seems. The film’s narrative structure frequently makes reference to mythology and literature, utilizing Morocco’s rich history and oral traditions.

When a group of people takes a white taxi to go to Casablanca, they get in an accident that changes the course of their trip as the taxi, along with its passengers, gets held hostage by a drug dealer.

Batoul, a 28-year-old doctor, discovers love. Raised in a conservative environment where there was no question of dating a man before marriage, she met Hamza, and let herself go and transgressed all the principles she had always claimed. This whole story would end well if the wearing of the headscarf did not oppose them.

In a remote village in the mountains, Yzza is still waiting for the monthly package of medicine that her husband Hossein sends to treat their daughter. Failing to have the medicine being a matter of life and death, Yzza decides to go to Casablanca to fetch it. Without a proper address and with little money in her bag, this inexperienced, religious, naïve woman does not even fathom that Casablanca is an enormous metropolis, very far from her little rural village. Yzza’s bag is stolen and in her misfortune Yzza meets a young woman, a prostitute wanted by the police. From adventure to adventure, Yzza discovers the workings of an absurd society where her sensible codes are pushed and shoved. Director Naoufel Berraoui skillfully knits the portrayal of a city swarming with cars and people with the dramatic lives of his characters. A remarkable cast directed with sensitivity in a poignant drama with documentary-like accents.

The daughter of an Englishman and an Andalusian woman, Juanita rejects the historical changes taking place in Tangier.She lives alone in this "Paradise lost", surrounded by her sister Elena; Esther, her close friend who dedicates her entire life to an impossible love affair with a Moroccan; and Hamruch the housemaid, who disappears one day without saying a word. The Spanish Civil War, WWII with the arrival of refugees from Europe, and the Moroccan independence finally returns the city to its Arab origins. Juanita's tragedy lies in not realizing that her world is destined to disappear by the destructive and rejuvenating force of History.

In this Sufi tale, Nadia, a young Moroccan emigre returns from Paris to Fez to visit her dying father. At his funeral, she is overcome by the voice of Karina chanting the Koran. A powerful friendship develops between the two women as they decide to turn the father's palace into a shelter for Muslim women.

The film counts the return trip of thirty Moroccan immigrants from their country of emigration to their home country in a bus. It tells the several events happening among a group of people forced to coexist in a single, narrow space despite the differences of their worlds and their cultural backgrounds.

Salah is a young delinquent who finds himself forced by a band of criminals who kidnapped his mother to carry out a dangerous transaction and transport a shipment of drugs from Marrakech to Tangier.

Retired Belkacem leads a quiet life between mosque, café and pétanque until he’s lured into getting a driver’s license and buying a used car, only to discover it’s stolen. This simple mistake thrusts him into a dangerous spiral of solo adventures and threats he must confront on his own.

The wealthy pharmacist Mehdi falls in love with the beautiful Nura and soon the two get married. Noura is the attraction of the neighbourhood, everyone turns after her on the street, but she hides a secret: she is addicted to poker.

In the northeast of contemporary Morocco, Zeinab, a young wife watches her husband leave the country to go underground the day after their wedding. Zeinab is expecting a child. While she is waiting for her husband to return she lulls the foetus to sleep. Time goes by and the husband does not come back.

Caught between chasing his past and accepting his impending end, a man follows his childhood memories through the dark alleyways and desolate cemeteries of Boujad, Morocco.

Tahar is a retired blacksmith living with his son from his first marriage. After seeing his late second wife in a dream, he decides to visit her grave, in Azemmour. In the trip, he meets Driss who is going to Essaouira, looking for his mother whom he has never known after receiving a letter about her. The two men go to Marrakech together where Driss gets a combination motorbike that Tahar calls "wind horse". And they begin their journey together, first to Azemmour, then to Essaouira, looking for their past.

Amin is a teenage boy who lives with his two sisters, Kenza and Saida, in Tangier. Tragedy strikes when Saida is raped by the son of the man Kenza works for as a maid. The father threatens the girl not to press any charges against his son since he is running for elections.

The story of Massaoud, a rebellious young man, oppressed by both his family and the sclerotic society.

Asso, a religious man in his forties, is an extremist. He loves his family, but has to face the dilemma of choosing between his wife and the Islamic strict rules.