BENJAMIN ROST & HICHAM BOURAIS, Maroc, 2023.
SYNOPSIS :
The Moroccan boys Imad (15), Nourdine (17), Walid (18), Hamza (17) and Aziz (20) live in a
cave under the lighthouse in Melilla. Every night they break into the harbour trying to climb
onto the ships leaving for the Spanish mainland. In the shadow of the rocks, they and a hundred
other kids have created their own micro-society: ‘Lord of The Flies’ in reality – with
their own hierarchies, chants and rules. To pass the time, they phone their mothers on video
or film themselves being chased by the police. The film follows the gang of boys for 5 years.
From their life in the caves to their successful escape attempts to Spain. They call themselves:
Harragas – those who burn the passports, the borders, their lives.
BIOFILMOGRAPHIE
Benjamin Rost works as a director and activist in Europe and Africa. He studied Directing
at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and Philosophy in Munich. Between 2017 and
2019 he lived in Rwanda and South Africa to support the launch of the Youth TV Channel
‘Iwacu’ for the German Development Organisation (GIZ) and to shoot his graduation
film”A PORTRAIT ON THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS”supported by ARD / SWR and MfG,
which is available on Amazon Prime.
With his Debut Project HARRAGA – THOSE WHO BURN THEIR LIVES he participated at
the Documentary Campus Masterschool. Since then, Benjamin is also a member of
ACAN (Arab Cultures and Arts Network) and actively works in Morocco, where he got
to know Hicham, a now good friend of his and an important collaborator on HARRAGA.
His films were screened at various international festivals like Dok Leipzig, Dok.Fest
München, Camerimage etc.
Hicham Bourais was born in Fez, Morocco. In 2000 he came to Spain to study, but after
the sudden passing of his father a year and a half later, his family could no longer
provide him with the economic support needed for his studies. That resulted in him
losing his student residence card and living for more than 4 years without papers in the
country. With the help of a Spanish friend, he moved to Madrid and started working.
Hicham had then, the chance to enroll in Pedro Almodóvar’s film school. Making films
was his lifelong dream as cinema is the axis on which his life revolves, but in Morocco,
he had no option to further pursue this field of studies.
While Hicham was studying at Escuela de Cine Madrid, he was also working as an
assistant editor, and translator for a short film. Hicham’s great mentor became Antonio
Gómez Escalonilla, who above all is also a great friend of his. Today Hicham works in
Film Projects as editor, translator, and director and lives in Zaragoza, Spain.
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