Life in between

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Life in between (La vita in mezzo)

original title:

La vita in mezzo

directed by:

screenplay:

cinematography:

music:

Niccolò Bosio, Yassine Bellouquid

producer:

production:

BabyDocFilm, 2M Soread, Images du Sud, with the support of Film Commission Torino Piemonte

country:

Italy / Morocco

year:

2021

film run:

63'

format:

colour

status:

Ready (15/07/2021)

festivals & awards:

After twenty five years of work in Italy, Hassan has took his family back to Morocco. He had come from the remote city of Khouribga, following the first compatriots who were starting to emigrate toward Turin, Northern Italy. There they set, during the 90s, the largest Moroccan community in Italy. As many others in the community, Hassan improved the economic wellness of the family, strictly preserving abroad customs and traditions of his homeland. The economic crisis has forced him to reinvent himself in his native land, investing his savings in a little car-wash station. In Italy, however, he has left his son Omar, who didn't go back to Morocco with the rest of the family.
However, if the "pioneers" like Hassan found a meaning in their emigration, the situation has become more complex for their sons. Thus, "millennial" Omar found himself struggling to find his way between two worlds.
When he had a son, Emir, with his Italian girlfriend, the situation precipitated. The girl refused to convert to Islam, rejecting the “regular” marriage Hassan wanted for his son. The consequence was that Omar and the girl split up.
Confused, reacting to the "mistake" of believing in an interethnic family, Omar makes a radical decision. He accepts an arranged marriage with a Moroccan girl. Omar calls his mother in Morocco, asking her to find the right bride for him. Marriage with Wafa seems to put a full stop in Omar's life. Now he can start again, building his own family, like he is supposed to do.
The re-established relation with his native land leads him to confront with his childhood companions in the city of Khouribga. They have never been out of the Country, while he can move back and forth between Morocco and Europe. For them, he represents the dream of crossing over, toward the other side of the Mediterranean. They are willing to risk their lives in the sea for it.
But... Did really Omar solve his life's problems marrying the Moroccan girl?
The old Hassan, for his part, observes perplexed the life of his son, suspended on the thin thread that separates two worlds.