THE FIANCES OF IMILCHIL
SVA Theatre (Beatrice) – 10:00pm
Saturday, October 17th
53 min | Docu-fiction | France, Morocco | 2015
US Premiere
By Leandre Alain-Baker
SYNOPSIS:
In Morocco, in the Grand Atlas Mountains, the Legend of Imilchil, tale of an unfortunate love, gave birth to the Betrothal Festival, taking place every year during the harvest season.
Tislit, a young girl from Aït Yaza tribe, and Isli, a young man from Aït Ibrahim tribe, only had one fault: the love they had for each other. The two rival tribes strongly objected to this union. Inconsolable, the two lovers ran off to the mountains and cried so much that the two streams of their tears formed two lakes in which they supposedly drowned. In Imilchil, the two lakes, sparkling in the sun, are named after them: Isli (the fiancé) en Tislit (the fiancée).
But sometimes on warm summer nights, some say you can hear the echo of their voices, resonating in the mountains.
Today, Aïcha, a young woman from Imilchil, is getting ready to marry her fiancé Moha, and is hounted by the memory of her two ancestors.
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY:
Leandre-Alain Baker is a Congolese actor, writer and film director. He was born in Bangui, in Central African Republic and made several feature films, short films and documentaries: Ramata, Yolande ou les blessures du silence, Les fiancÈs díImilchil, Un PygmÈe dans la Baignoire, La Couture de Paris, Au Bout du Couloir, Les Oranges de Belleville, DiogËne ‡ Brazzaville, a portrait of the writer Sony Labou Tansi, Tchicaya la petite feuille qui chante son pays, a portrait of the writer Tchicaya U Tamísi.
As a writer, he is the author of Ici síachËve le voyage, a novel published by LíHarmattan, and two theater play scripts, Les jours se traÓnent, les nuits aussi, and Líenfer comme station balnÈaire, both published by Lansman. Three other theater play scripts, Líeffet de serre sur le comportement des anges, Dieu roulera líunivers comme une natte, and Le corps des uns le bruit des autres, will soon be published, also by Lansman. LÈandre-Alain Baker is also the author of a collection of poems, Le Vent secoue la montagne, published by DÈdicaces MontrÈal. He is also scriptwriter.
As an actor, he worked amongst others under the direction of Gabriel Garran, Philippe Adrien, Christian Schiaretti, Philippe Mercier, Peter Brook, Thierry Mennessier