Hicham Lasri Explained

Hicham Lasri
Birth Date:13 April 1977
Birth Place:Casablanca, Morocco
Nationality:Moroccan

Hicham Lasri (born April 13, 1977) is a Moroccan comics artist, film director, novelist, producer and screenwriter. He has a special imprint on Moroccan cinema, as his films often deal with topics that are considered taboo in Moroccan society with great boldness.

Biography

Lasri was born on April 13, 1977, in Casablanca. He grew up in a family of five brothers and a sister.[1] After obtaining a degree in law, he changed orientation and begins a career of playwright. He was a student of the screenwriter Emmanuelle Sardou and the filmmaker Hassan Leghzouli. Then he did an internship supervised by Sylvie Bailly, that allowed him to deepen his training on Sitcoms.[2]

Career

He became the protégé of Nabil Ayouch and wrote his first screenplay in 2002 for one of his films, La légende d'Arhaz, while also being the screenwriter of Lahcen Zinoun for La beauté éparpillée (2006).[3]

From 2004 to 2006, he worked as director of writing in Nabil Ayouch's company, Ali n’prod, he will remain so between April 2006 and June 2007, for the "Film industry" project. He worked also as an artistic director and took the opportunity to direct Le peuple de l’horloge, an 81-minute fiction.

In 2010, he co-produced Terminus des anges with Narjiss Nejjar and Mohamed Mouftakir. His first solo feature film was The end, produced in by Lamia Chraibi and her company La Prod.

In his second movie, C'est eux les chiens... (2013), he made the parallel between the Moroccan riots of 1981 and the February 20 Movement. All in the form of a rather nervous docufiction. After being selected at ACID in Cannes, the film was screened at 32 other international festivals between 2013 and 2015, including FESPACO, Malmo and the Carthage Film Festival. Lasri's other films were also selected four times at the Berlinale between 2014 and 2018.[4]

His first Documentary, Nayda?, looks back at the 2000s Moroccan "Nayda" movement, likened to the Spanish Movida.[5]

Personal life

In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Lasri signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[6] [7] [8]

Works

Filmography

Films

YearTitleCredited asNotes
DirectorScreenwriterProducerCinematographer
2002Géométrie Du RemordsShort film
2003Rahmadirected by Driss Chraïbi
2004Ali J'nah Freestyleshort film, produced by Nabil Ayouch
2005Lunati(K)ashort film
2005Jardin des Ridesshort film
2006Heart EdgesDirected by Hicham Ayouch
Co-writer with Hicham Ayouch
2007Tissée de mains et d'étoffedirected by Omar Chraïbi
2007La beauté éparpilléeDirected by Lahcen Zinoun
Co-writer with Lahcen Zinoun and Fatima Loukili
2010Terminus des angesCo-director with Narjiss Nejjar and Mohamed Mouftakir
Co-writer with Narjiss Nejjar, Mohamed Mouftakir and Mehdi Ben Attia
2011The EndFirst feature film
2011AndroidShort video
2013C'est eux les chiens...
2013YmmaDirected and produced by Rachid El Ouali
2014The Sea Is BehindCo-producer with Lamia Chraibi
2015Starve Your Dog
2017Headbang Lullaby
2018Jahilya
2019Love in Alepposhort film
2019Nayda?Documentary film
2024Moroccan Badass Girl

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Tiwarga Art directorTelevision film
2007L'os de ferDirector, writerTelevision film
2008TiphinaRDirector, writerTelevision film
2008Houti HoutaArt directorTelevision film
2009Le peuple de l’horlogeDirector, writerTelevision film
2009la famille marche à l’ombreDirector, writerTelevision filmCo-Writer with Youssef Karami
2016Nhar ZwineDirector, writerTelevision film

Web series

YearTitleNotes
June 2016No Vaseline Fatwa33 episodes
July 2016Khal Rass (les basanés)6 episodes
November 2016Bissara Overdose7 episodes
December 2016Caca-Mind5 episodes

Novels

Graphic novels

Notes and References

  1. News: Hicham Lasri, un enfant prodige du cinéma. Aujourd'hui le Maroc. 2018-08-16. fr-FR.
  2. Web site: La machine " Hicham Lasri freestyle " est en route. 2010-01-05. Jeunes Du Maroc. https://web.archive.org/web/20100105093654/http://jeunesdumaroc.com/article1187.html. 2010-01-05. 2018-08-16. live.
  3. News: Bennani. Mohamed. Hicham Lasri, cinéaste autodidacte et écrivain tout-terrain. 2016-01-13. Medias24. 2020-04-19. fr.
  4. Higbee. Will. 2019-07-02. Introduction : le cinéma maghrébin transnational sous toutes ses formes. Expressions maghrébines. en. 18. 1. 7–17. 10.1353/exp.2019.0000. 198813396. 2475-2401.
  5. Web site: "Nayda", votre documentaire à regarder sur 2M, ce dimanche 06 octobre à 21h45. 2M. fr. 2020-04-19.
  6. News: 28 December 2023. Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat. Libération. fr. 24 January 2024.
  7. Web site: Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza. Newman. Nick. 29 December 2023. The Film Stage. 24 January 2024.
  8. News: 31 December 2023. Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire. The Jerusalem Post. 24 January 2024.