Our Father, the exceptional Hero Abdelkrim Khatabi.

Mohammed Ben Abdelkrim El Khattabi is said to be the first who aspired to unite the peoples of North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya) and he was the first to use the Maghreb as a designation for all these peoples. He also supported the liberation movements in these countries and founded The Committee for the Liberation of the Maghreb in 1947. The main purpose of this committee was to reunite all the forces and the national parties struggling for the independence of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia and to lay the foundations of a Maghrebian unity. Mohammed Ben Abdlkrim El Khattanbi died on February 6th, 1963 in Cairo.

Unfortunately, after a history of resistance and sacrifice for the independence of his country, Mohammed Ben Abdelkrim El Khattabi is a forgotten hero and his struggle has gone into oblivion. We barely see, if ever, any TV programs talking about him or mentioning his glorious history. The same neglect applies to cinema, as there has been so far no film about him. When shall we reconcile with our history and revive it for a true breakthrough towards the future? Why do our filmmakers spend considerable budgets of taxpayers on ‘zero’ films that are replete with erotic scenes and vulgar language and almost no aesthetic and cultural value? We need films that respect our intelligence, our history, our present and future. We need films that tell us who is Mohammed Ben Abdelkrim El Khattabi, who is Youssef Ibn Tachafin, Tarik Ibn Ziyad, Allal El-Fassi, Mohammed V, Mehdi Ben Barka... Our dear filmmakers, if you can’t do so you are a total FIASCO!!