The Mother of All Lies

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The Mother of All Lies

Released Sep 6, 2024

1h 36m

Documentary

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37 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Young Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir wants to know why she only has one photograph from her childhood, and why the girl in the picture isn't even her. She decides to explore the past and its mysteries by creating a handmade replica of the Casablanca neighborhood where she grew up. There, she begins to interrogate the tales her mother, father, and grandmother tell about their home and their country. Slowly, she starts to unravel the layers of deception and intentional forgetting that have shaped her life. The truth is hard to face, but in this sometimes surreal nonfiction film, El Moudir begins to draw what is real to the surface.

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Monica Castillo

RogerEbert.com

El Moudir strikes an impressive balance between rediscovering the past and unearthing the emotions packed away for decades.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 6, 2024

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Greg Nussen

Slant Magazine

Through her use of recreation, Asmae El Moudir suggests that the act of documentary filmmaking can turn historical truths into fiction, in which everyone becomes an active participant.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 31, 2024

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Phuong Le

Guardian

The delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony brilliantly evokes the personal and collective trauma that stem from Morocco’s “Years of Lead” -- a period of state brutality under Hassan II’s dictatorial rule.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 3, 2024

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Jaylan Salah

InSession Film

The Mother of All Lies is a swan song, sorrowful but inevitable. It crushes the soul but does so in an aesthetic environment of beauty.

Rated: A

Feb 25, 2025

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

The filmmaker’s approach is unusual, to a certain extent perhaps forced upon her by circumstances. For political reasons, it remains difficult to confront the crimes committed by Hassan II (whose son, Mohammed VI, is the nation’s present ruler).

Jan 13, 2025

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Ray Greene

CineGods.com

A remarkable reimagining of the very grammar of the documentary film.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 6, 2024

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Moody C

It’s an important story to tell with some insight to psychological trauma and its impacts namely suppression of agonizing memories and roadblocks of moving forward afterwards but it doesn’t mean this is compelling filmmaking, and it did not hold my attention throughout as I was just hoping it end alredy. You know ending will be bittersweet and surely tug the heartstrings and it certainly did but movie as a whole needed more work.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

09/12/24

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Maria L

Deeply intimate and personal yet never veering into manipulative or egocentric. I was so grateful to see this family, this culture, this moment in history through these eyes. Wonderful film with incredible, yet subtle strength, affording a magical reward to those with the patience and kindness to watch and listen. What I loved most was how confident this filmmaker was in her approach to telling the story and how trusting that her audience would follow along on this unconventional narrative and cinematic ride.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/19/24

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Asmae El Moudir

Director

Asmae ElMoudir

Director

Ouardia Zorkani

Actor

Asmae El Moudir

Writer

Asmae El Moudir

Producer

Hatem Nachi

Cinematographer

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Synopsis

Young Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir wants to know why she only has one photograph from her childhood, and why the girl in the picture isn't even her. She decides to explore the past and its mysteries by creating a handmade replica of the Casablanca neighborhood where she grew up. There, she begins to interrogate the tales her mother, father, and grandmother tell about their home and their country. Slowly, she starts to unravel the layers of deception and intentional forgetting that have shaped her life. The truth is hard to face, but in this sometimes surreal nonfiction film, El Moudir begins to draw what is real to the surface.

Director: Asmae El Moudir, Asmae ElMoudir
Producer: Asmae El Moudir, Asmae ElMoudir
Screenwriter: Asmae El Moudir, Asmae ElMoudir
Distributor: Outsider Pictures
Production Co: Insight Films, Al Jazeera Documentary Channel
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Arabic
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 6, 2024, Limited
Runtime: 1h 36m

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