Today, a man remembers. As a teenager, madly in love with cinema, he had lived a unique story with a French woman. Even now, the woman seems to him to belong to a secret world - one made of desire but also of discovery. As much from innocence as curiosity, he explored that world. He also got a bit burned there. He remembers. In fragments. Like a man who wants to understand his past and his present. His life as a high school student, his double life among his adolescent friends, his family, then her. His desire to live life to the fullest in this town heated by the sun and by boredom. The timid and fierce love he had for a beautiful young girl of his age. But above all, his life in the cinema. He is a character; he is also an innocent who believed he could touch the stars.

What do we do with our secrets, which resurface, throbbing, in memory? The time of memory is not the time of our memories. The time that I keep wanting to recapture in all my films is the one that led me to tackle this wild part of life that every teenager experiences. Desire in its raw state. The story of a young man who remembers as an adult. From his youth, shaped by cinema, and his rage to experience what the movie theatre screen setting offered. I've always been teased by what fell from the sky in my youth. Hadn't I invented a life as beautiful and large as the one that cinema offers? Life has taken me very far from my country and yet I keep coming back to it to create. The time seems to have come to explore this buried life. If nostalgia there is, it is, then, literally a return to pain, without which no creation is truly possible.


estrelado / starring / avec :

a film by / un film de
Hakim BELABBÈS

Morocco / 2023 / Feature Narrative

Director's statement
What do we do with our secrets, which resurface, throbbing, in memory? The time of memory is not the time of our memories. The time that I keep wanting to recapture in all my films is the one that led me to tackle this wild part of life that every teenager experiences. Desire in its raw state. The story of a young man who remembers as an adult. From his youth, shaped by cinema, and his rage to experience what the movie theatre screen setting offered. I've always been teased by what fell from the sky in my youth. Hadn't I invented a life as beautiful and large as the one that cinema offers? Life has taken me very far from my country and yet I keep coming back to it to create. The time seems to have come to explore this buried life. If nostalgia there is, it is, then, literally a return to pain, without which no creation is truly possible.

Título / Original title / Titre Original : L'HISTOIRE DE M
Título Internacional (en Inglês) / International Title (English) / Titre international (Anglais) : THE STORY OF M
Título (França / Bélgica) / Title (France / Belgium) / Titre (France, Belgique) :
Outro título (em árabe) / Other Title (in Arabic) / Autre Titre (en arabe) :
Outro título (em francês) / Other Title (in French) / Autre Titre (en français) :
Duração / Duración / Runtime / Durée : 00' (00h 00 minutes, 00:00:00)
Tipo / Type / Type : Longa-metragem de ficção / Feature Fiction / Long-métrage documentaire
Gênero / Genre :
Idioma / Languages / Langues de tournage : Francês, Árabe / French, Algerian Arabic / Français, Arabe
Subtítulos / Subtitles / Sous-titres :
País de Produção / Country of Production / Pays de Production : Marrocos / Morocco / Maroc
País do Diretora / Filmmaker's Country / Pays du réalisateur : Marrocos / Morocco / Maroc
País de filmagem / Country of Filming / Pays de tournage : Marrocos / Morocco / Maroc
Ano de Produção / Year of production / Année de production : 2021-
Ano de lançamento / Year of Release / Année de Sortie : 2023
PÉRIODE ET LIEUX DE TOURNAGE : Printemps 2022, Erfoud, Maroc, Chambéry et Lyon, France, Chicago, États-Unis
DATE DE DIFFUSION ESTIMÉE : début 2023
Cores / Colors / Couleurs : Cor / Color / Couleur
Suporte de difusão / Media / Support de diffusion :
Formato / Aspect Ratio / Format Image :
Formato de som / Sound Mix / Format Son :
Orçamento estimado / Estimated Budget / Budget prévisionnel : €2 000 000
TAGS :


ELENCO / CAST / ACTRICES-ACTEURS
................................................
................................................

PRODUTORA EXECUTIVA / EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS / PRODUCTRICE DÉLÉGUÉE :

DIRECTOR / REALIZAÇÃO / RÉALISATEUR :
Hakim Belabbès

ROTEIRISTAS / SCREENWRITERS / SCÉNARISTES : :
Hakim Belabbès
Nadia Meflah


Dir. de Fotografia / Director of Photography / Directeur de la photo :

PRODUCTION / PRODUCTION :
HAK Films (Maroc)
Hakim Belabbes

PARTNERS / PARTENAIRES
CCM
Cohenimages
Periscope Audio and Video
Chicago Films Workers Club CRC (Chicago Recording Company)


DISTRIBUTION

CONTACT (Print Copy / Diffusion du film, Festivals)
nadiam.meflah(@)gmail.com


PREMIOS - AWARDS / PRIX


FESTIVALS & SCREENINGS / FESTIVALS & PROJECTIONS

* Ateliers Atlas /// Festival International du Film de Marrakech 2021 (Maroc) | ORÇAMENTO SEGURO / SECURE BUDGET / BUDGET SÉCURISÉ : €450 500 (Ateliers Atlas 2021) | A LA RECHERCHE DE : Une aide financière au développement, une coproduction française, distributeurs et partenaires privés | https://atlasateliers.marrakech-festival.com/fr/selection/2021/the-story-of-m


Fontes / Our Source / Nos Sources (READ MORE / PLUS D'INFOS) :
- https://atlasateliers.marrakech-festival.com/fr/selection/2021/the-story-of-m
- https://atlasateliers.marrakech-festival.com/en/selection/2021/the-story-of-m
Updated by Thierno DIA, 09 Feb 2023