January 2020

Movie 24:34

 

The village of Benni Aïssi, a hamlet in the province of Benslimane in Morocco, is nestled between hills and forest. It enjoyed an exceptional environmental setting and a peaceful life until the arrival of rubble quarries in the region. Somehow, the inhabitants accepted the multiple nuisances until the threat of a new quarry project, in the heart of their habitats, their agricultural lands and the forest. The film recounts the hell of the quarries, the incessant comings and goings of trucks, the dust, the desolate lands, the explosions,... The fear, the uncertainty and the anger of the local residents. To counter this new career project which puts their health, their agricultural activity, the landscape heritage and an entire ecosystem at risk, the inhabitants decide to mobilize, accompanied by the artist Hassan Darsi. Petition and letters of opposition to the authorities are sent; a citizen's march bringing together residents and city dwellers from the neighboring cities of Casablanca and Rabat is organized. With the complicity of a landscape architect, a project to create agro-ecological gardens was initiated. The earth is turned over and prepared, the first seedlings and seedlings are just waiting for the arrival of the rain. A few months later it is the time of profusion, of the first harvests and sales of vegetables. From the shadow of an imminent danger to the concretization of agro-ecological gardens, posed vis-à-vis the potential disaster, the film is the fruit of a reality and the actions initiated by the artist. It tells the story of a village's commitment to safeguarding its territory, from threatening danger to celebrated victory.