"La Septième Porte" (The Seventh Door) is the title of a 300-page film historical work dedicated to Moroccan cinema between 1907 and 1986. It was written by Ahmed Bouanani (1938-2011) by hand over many years, but was never published. Neither his contribution to film history nor the five films (four of them shorts) he made between 1966 and 1980, which also pursue the politics of memory, could count on support in postcolonial Morocco. Ali Essafi's portrait film equally takes a stand against the state-driven policy of forgetting. He visited Bouanani three years before the latter's death. The filmmaker, poet and novelist who also made drawings was leading a reclusive life in a remote village with his wife Naïma and many cats, living in the midst of huge piles of books and manuscripts, those that had been spared from a devastating fire. He was physically frail but unbroken in spirit. The discussions about how he saw his position, censorship, the filmmaking ban he received and his work as a film editor are combined with film excerpts, photos, a TV interview and other documents to map out the contours of an independent artist and his oeuvre that are both full of integrity.

a film by Ali ESSAFI

Morocco, 2017 documentary, 1h20', portrait, in Arabic & French with English subtitles

Original Title (Arabic) : Obour Al Bab Al Salea - عبور الباب السابع
French Title: EN QUÊTE DE LA SEPTIÈME PORTE
English Title: Crossing The Seventh Gate
Country: Morocco
Year: 2017
Languages: French, Arabic
Subtitles: English, French
Type: Documentary form
Duration: 80'
Colour: Black/White & Colour

Producers
Ali Essafi (Cinemaat Prod)
Rasha Salti

Written and Directed by
Ali Essafi

Cinematography
Hakim Belabbes, Hassan Ouazzani, Ali Essafi

Editing
Chaghig Arzoumanian

Sound
Touda Bouanani, Ali Essafi

Sound Design
Rana Eid

PRODUCTION
Cinemaat Prod (Casablanca, Morocco)


2017 | Les Rencontres internationales des cinémas arabes - Aflam 2017 | 21 to 26 November 2017 | Marseille, France
* Rencontres avec En Quête de la septième porte عبور الباب السابع :
on 23 NOV, 18h00, at MuCEM (musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée), 7 Promenade Robert Laffont 13002 Marseille
www.facebook.com/events/1983609221919792/
www.archives-2017.lesrencontresdaflam.fr/en-quete-de-la-septieme-porte/

2017 | 67th Berlinale, Germany
* Selection : Forum
* World Premiere
www.berlinale.de/external/programme/archive/pdf/201703123_en.pdf
www.berlinale.de/en/archive/jahresarchive/2017/02_programm_2017/02_filmdatenblatt_2017_201703123.html