Terra Firma
Fall Grant 2013 - Production Stage
Laurent Aït Benalla / Feature Documentary / Morocco, France, United Arab Emirates, Qatar / 2016 / 71 min / Colour / Original Language: Arabic, French / Interests: Documentary, History, Social Issues, Youth, Immigration, Creative Documentary, Poetic Documentary
Synopsis
In a small commercial harbour in the south of France, two Moroccan sailors are watching over ferries that were abandoned by ship-owners. Young Syrians make a stopover to load their cattle, African traders prepare a convoy of second-hand vehicles. Men, machines, and animals transit through this space open onto the sea.
Credits
- Director
- Laurent Aït Benalla
- Screenwriter
- Laurent Aït Benalla
- Producer
- Pierre-Yves Cruaud
About the Director
Laurent Aït Benalla was born in 1976 to a Moroccan father and a French mother. At 17, he spent a year in Russia and went on to study film theory and Russian at the University of Montpellier, where he obtained a Masters degree. He started working as cameraman and sound operator, then directed several medium-length documentaries, including ‘The Girls of the Moon’ (2003), ‘Marcel Hanoun chemin faisant’ (2010), ‘English Suite’ (2011) screened on television and at festivals. ‘O My Body!’, his first feature-length film, received a grant from the Doha Film Institute.
Awards and Festival History
Festivals
Dubai International Film Festival 2016, Muhr Feature (WP)
Contacts
-
Main Contact
Laurent Aït Benalla
- Company:
- HEOLFILMS
- Phone:
- +33 6 23 54 48 85
- Email:
- laurent@slab-net.com