REVIEW// AWARD WINNING MOROCCAN FILM: MAJID

I wrote about this event a while ago and despite the snow I wouldn't miss this opportunity to support Nassim Abassi or the fact that 100% of the money went directly to charity, so I ventured out into arctic conditions. Slightly dramatic I know.



I was lucky enough to meet Nassim before the film started. He is extremely modest, kind, and has a great sense of humility. All rare qualities from anyone in this day and age. Another topic for another day.

I have to admit that within the first 30 seconds I had tears in my eyes. The voice of the child crying helplessly "yima wa baba" whilst staring at a blazing fire was enough to pull on anyone's heart strings in that cinema.

Majid is a young orphan who was living with his older brother in a small room at the top of a house (on the Moroccan rooftop) in Mohammedia, they had both lost their parents to a fire and whilst Majid struggled to desperately remember their faces his older brother also had his own battles to fight, of depression with drug and alcohol abuse. It was so sad to see how Majid was left abandoned by his older brother, but at the same, we were left to also pity the older brother who thought he was doing the right thing by chasing a European lifestyle - trying to get a visa to get out of Morocco. This is something we commonly see today.

The one memory of his parents was destroyed in the fire and this was a photo of Majid's mum and dad, all he wanted to see was their faces one last time. So he set out on a journey to do exactly this. His journey touched upon all elements of Moroccan society;

• Children, poverty, their innocence and the way in which they are treated. This was by far the strongest message which came from the movie. Never again will you turn away a child asking for help or begging in the streets. And if you have, you will feel riddled with guilt and anger. 
• Elders and their actions. Not just the older responsible generation, the ones who believe in God and give great advice, but the others who are cynics, selfish and heartless to the point they can't break off a bit of bread or give a child a cup of water when they are hungry or thirsty. Not to mention the violence.
• Religion, identity and love. On his journey Majid did end up at the doors of the mosque, a moment of tension as to whether he would enter or not, and when he did, his first dialogue with God was born. Naturally.

I don't want to give too much away as this should be coming out in DVD in 2013. Yes this is Nassim's first feature film and so don't expect amazing editing effects or strong talent coming from the child actors which were casted casually from the streets.

But what you can expect is a storyline that will have you reflecting heavily on the children of Morocco and it will most definitely bring tears to your eyes. Even the guys.