Orientalism on the screen: contextualising colonial cinema in Morocco

ABSTRACT

In colonial Morocco, cinema was effectively dynamic in reflecting the interests and values of the dominant players in the film industry: Europeans. Colonial cinema was, thus, instrumental to Westerners, whereas Moroccans were at best consumers of the moving images or, when represented, seemed to be exotic, distorted and voiceless. This article explores the ways how colonial cinema visually produced the Moroccan native reality on the screen. By questioning the grammar of representation, the focus here is to see the extent to which colonial filmmakers were associated with the colonial project and were actually vulnerable in front of its demands and political dictates. The main argument is that colonial cinema—though pre-supposedly was about the extra-European reality—continued to articulate an orientalising discourse that regarded the native characters not beyond the limits of the colonial imaginary, but within its predefined boundaries. To understand how colonial cinema operates stylistically, it will be appropriate to analyse it in the light of Edward Said’s theorisation of the concept of representation with respect to the Self/Other dichotomy.

KEYWORDS:

• Moroccan cinema
• colonial cinema
• representation
• orientalism
• self/other encounters

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my tremendous gratitude to JNAS’ two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback about an earlier draft of this article. I am also deeply grateful to Mohamed Mifdal and Said Chemlal for their meticulous proofreading and pertinent comments. Finally, I am thankful to the Journal of North African Studies for considering the publication of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 Pierre Boulanger (1975), Driss Jaidi (1990), Viola Chafik (1998), Mostapha Mesnawi (2001), Roy Armes (2005) and Sandra Gayle Carter (2009) are good examples.

2 Studies in Moroccan theatre have reproduced the same question: Did Morocco know theatre in its Western form before the advent of colonialism? Such a controversy resulted in three standpoints: The first acknowledges that Morocco knew theatre many years before the advent of colonialism through the existence of ‘pre-theatrical forms.’ However, the second standpoint associates the emergence of theatre in Morocco with the colonial period. The third opinion argues that Moroccan theatre has a hybrid character, existing between ‘East and West.’ For more, see Hassan Lamnii (1974) and Khalid Amine (2000).

3 In a chapter entitled ‘Arabs and Forms of Self-expression,’ Abdellah Laroui (2006) talks about forms of expression which existed in the Arab culture, but he excludes cinema from his discussion.

4 By the ‘Moroccan’ cinema of the forties, it is meant a dozen Arabic-speaking films which were made during the period between 1946 and 1948 by French filmmakers. As they were particularly intended for Moroccan audiences, these films were concurrently expected to counteract the popularity of Egyptian cinema among Moroccan audiences and reconcile them with French cinema. Highly encouraged by the colonial administration, John Lordier was the first filmmaker to launch this series of films by making Yasmina (1946). In the same year, Mark Maillarky and John Bastia respectively made Ibn Alkader (1946) and El Majnoun (1946). And in 1947, seven French filmmakers were enthusiastic about the initiative resulting in their production of seven films that were made in different shooting locations such as Marrakech, Fes, Casablanca and Tafillalt. These films are the following: Charles Boulet’s Cheddad le Justicier (1947), Vichy Ivernel’s Kenzi (1947), John Mauran’s Maarouf, Savetier du Caire (1947), John Lordier’s Minuit, Rue de L’orloge (1947), Norbet Gernolle’s Serenade à Meryem (1947) by, and André Zwobada’s La Septième Porte (1947) and Noces de Sable (1948). In terms of its distribution, the so-called Moroccan cinema of the forties was a failure because it failed to attract the attention of the Moroccan audience, to whom it had been intended. The films’ colonial vision remained one of the main reasons behind this failure. Because they were made by French filmmakers, who were affiliated with the colonial project, these films fall into the category of colonial cinema. In spite of the the use of Arabic, which was indeed dictated by communicative objectives, the so-called cinema of the forties represented an organic extension to the achievements of colonial cinema in its entirety. Only two films of this category— Zwobada’s La Septième Porte and Noces de Sable –- should be critically treated as non-colonial cinematic works because they remained unfamiliar with the colonising spirit that characterised the period.

5 Historical records often recognize Mohamed Osfour (1927-2005) as the first Moroccan to appropriate the film medium and access the film industry. After years of regular film-viewing, Osfour was driven to the filmmaking activity by his tremendous passion for the moving image. At the age of fourteen, he managed to produce his first film, Ibn Al-Ghaba (1941), which is often regarded as the first moving picture made by a Moroccan filmmaker. Despite the fact that he did not receive any formal education or professional training—as there was no film schools then— he persistently carried out in the process of making films during the period between 1941 and 1970. His involvement in the film industry resulted in the production of a handful of short cuts and a unique feature film (Al-Kanz Al-Marsoud) in 1970. What basically characterized Osfour’s film practice is that it was a form of independent cinema that continued to exist outside the Establishment and beyond its commercial and administrative circuits. By using only primitive cinematic devices, Osfour managed to leave behind a unique film practice that has remained beyond the concern of conventional Moroccan film criticism. In critically dealing with Osfour’s film practice—in a not-yet published PhD dissertation—I argue that this practice should be stylistically categorized according to film aesthetics of both early cinema and underground cinema.

6 The two books were preceded by Pierre Boulanger Le Cinéma Colonial: de ‘L’ Atlantide’ à ‘Lawrence d’Arabie’ (1975).

7 Here, I am using Abdelmajid Hajji’s expression with modifications so as to fit with the content of this article. Hajji’s expression goes as follows:‘Hollywood cinema dealing with the Orient, like Western literature from which it derives most of its narratives … ’ (Hajji 1995, 171).

8 The role of Itto is played by Simone Berriau (Colonel Berriau’s widow). (Boulanger 1975, 118).