Excavating Memory And History in the Turtles' Song, A Moroccan Revolution. Issue 3 (2nd September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Petty, Sheila
• Is Part Of: Critical interventions. Volume 11:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 236
• Page End: 247
• Publication Date: 2017-09-02
• Subjects: Art, African -- Periodicals; Art, African -- 20th century -- History -- Periodicals; Art, African -- 21st century -- History -- Periodicals; 709.6
• DOI: 10.1080/19301944.2017.1401379
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1930-1944

Abstract

Abstract: This essay explores how Moroccan filmmaker Jawad Rhalib has used the documentary form for explorations of Moroccan history and culture, "giving voice" through cinematic expression to those who have been silenced by history and politics. Jawad Rhalib's feature documentary The Turtles' Song, a Moroccan Revolution/Le Chant des Tortues, une révolution Marocaine (2013) is set against the backdrop of the Movement of February 20, 2011, when the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt had spread to Morocco. As a result, Moroccans protested for dignity, freedom of speech, social and political change, and an end to the culture of fear that had permeated the nation since, and especially during, the Lead Years (Années de Plomb) of King Hassan II. The essay examines the cinematic aesthetic and narrative structure of the film and its sociopolitical and historical thematic strategies for excavating memories, laying bare hidden histories, the inner workings of the Makhzen, and the struggle for democracy.