Nomadish
Spring Grants 2024 - Post-Production Stage
Yassine Marco Marroccu / Feature Narrative / Morocco, Hungary, Qatar / 130 min / Original Language: Amazigh, Arabic, French, Hassaniya, Italian / Interests: Drama, History, Adventure
Synopsis
In the spring of 1961, the merchant ship Talassim and its crew vanished from the map on the Atlantic coast of the Sahara, leaving behind a trail of mystery. Edoardo Manidoru, a 43-year-old retired adventurer with a troubled past rooted in his childhood in Italy, is called upon to search for the shipwreck in this wild region controlled by local tribes and the Moroccan army. Recently widowed, the dubious mission offers Edoardo an escape from his depression. With his loyal friend Aziz, Edoardo embarks on a mission across the Sahara in a transformed Renault 4. Their quest leads them to Cape Juby, a former Spanish stronghold where ancient tribal customs collide with modern-day enigmas. Along their journey, a Tuareg shaman named Amastan guides a sacred caravan toward the same destination, driven by visions of the unknown and searching for a sacred amulet of the Tuareg. As they approach the mystery’s resolution, the price for this knowledge becomes steep. Edoardo, haunted by the memory of his wife’s tragic death, struggles with his painful past while unravelling ancient secrets amid the blistering desert sands and the cruel waves of the Atlantic. In this turbulent new era of African independence, their odyssey reveals the interconnectedness of past and present, personal grief, and collective destiny.
Credits
- Director
- Yassine Marco Marroccu
- Screenwriter
- Yassine Marco Marroccu, Andrea Taschler
- Producer
- Andrea Taschler
- Production Company
- Eclipse Films (Morocco), Mirage Film (Hungary)
About the Director
Yassine Marco Marroccu graduated in audiovisual arts from the University of Udine in 2003. He has extensive experience in international productions, working in Morocco and Italy as a producer and director since the 2000s. As the owner of Casablanca-based Eclipse Production, he has contributed to the development of several projects and the formation of young filmmakers, directed advertisements and short films, and participated in various humanitarian projects in the North African region and refugee camps in Southeast Europe. He directed his first short film in 2001, 'Gnawas,' which was invited to many international film festivals, including Clermont-Ferrand. For his short film 'Entropya,' he received the grand prize at the Festival du Cinéma Maghrébin Alger 2013, among other prizes. He completed his first feature film, 'Catharsys or The Afina Tales of the Lost World,' in 2018, a co-production of Morocco, Italy, and Serbia, which had its world premiere at Tallinn Black Nights and won the most prestigious prizes of the national festival in its home country, Morocco.