The Moroccan Symphony

During the Algerian war, the road to Beni Boussaid on the Morocco-Algeria border is obstructed by the Morice line, a 430-mile long belt that is electrified and heavily mined. Moussa, a Moroccan friend of the revolution, helps refugees across the mountains. However, he must go through Beni Boussaid when he finds out that the path he usually takes is no longer safe. Hans, a Communist militant of the GDR, loses a leg on the way, while trying to remove a mine from a passageway. Normally, the wounded and sick are put to rest, but Hans is not a Muslim and cannot be a martyr.

In 1960, Moroccan Jews began migrating en masse to Israel, encouraged by immigration officers of the new state. The film tells the drama of the story of two families, one Jewish and one Muslim, joined by a close friendship but whose destinies are separated. Selected by Morocco as a candidate for the 2008 Oscar for Best Picture Foreign Language.

The film tells about the Moroccan past in its black section in the years of lead, the experience of the left in Morocco, and the wave of arrests at that time. After the 1971 coup attempt, the soldiers began to defend themselves that they were carrying out orders. The former Minister of the Interior, ADISC, asks for a written order to do his work. Everyone hides behind duty. Khaled is a young doctor in a hospital in Casablanca. He meets a man on death row. He killed all his family members. His name is Jamal, a detective who was working alongside a man he met a year ago with a burner. Jamal could not burn Ahmed al-Sabbar, so he killed all his family except his daughter Lamia, then burned the bodies, and blamed Ahmed al-Sabbar, who remained silent. The judge who sentenced Ahmed suffers from marital problems His wife is cheating on him with a young advisor, so the lover is killed and the circles go round.

When Noura lies on her deathbed, she begs Hamid to bury her in his heart. He interprets this as her wish to rest by Asfour Mountain—a place made inaccessible due to border restrictions. Determined to fulfill her final wish, Hamid puts everything on the line. Their love story spreads through social media and touches people on both sides of the border, sparking a wave of solidarity to make the dream of the “Princess of Asfour Mountain” come true.

Nadira BY KAMAL KAMAL