Hicham Lasri (born April 13, 1977) is a Moroccan comics artist, film director, novelist, producer and screenwriter. He has a special imprint on Moroccan cinema, as his films often deal with topics that are considered taboo in Moroccan society with great boldness.

Hicham Lasri
Born (1977-04-13) April 13, 1977 (age 47)
NationalityMoroccan
Occupations
  • Film director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
  • comics artist

Biography

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Lasri was born on April 13, 1977, in Casablanca. He grew up in a family of five brothers and a sister.[1] After obtaining a degree in law, he changed orientation and begins a career of playwright. He was a student of the screenwriter Emmanuelle Sardou and the filmmaker Hassan Leghzouli. Then he did an internship supervised by Sylvie Bailly, that allowed him to deepen his training on Sitcoms.[2]

Career

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He became the protégé of Nabil Ayouch and wrote his first screenplay in 2002 for one of his films, La légende d'Arhaz, while also being the screenwriter of Lahcen Zinoun for La beauté éparpillée (2006).[3]

From 2004 to 2006, he worked as director of writing in Nabil Ayouch's company, Ali n’prod, he will remain so between April 2006 and June 2007, for the "Film industry" project. He worked also as an artistic director and took the opportunity to direct Le peuple de l’horloge, an 81-minute fiction.[3]

In 2010, he co-produced Terminus des anges with Narjiss Nejjar and Mohamed Mouftakir. His first solo feature film was The end, produced in by Lamia Chraibi and her company La Prod.[3]

In his second movie, C'est eux les chiens... (2013), he made the parallel between the Moroccan riots of 1981 and the February 20 Movement. All in the form of a rather nervous docufiction.[3] After being selected at ACID in Cannes, the film was screened at 32 other international festivals between 2013 and 2015, including FESPACO, Malmo and the Carthage Film Festival. Lasri's other films were also selected four times at the Berlinale between 2014 and 2018.[4]

His first Documentary, Nayda?, looks back at the 2000s Moroccan "Nayda" movement, likened to the Spanish Movida.[5]

Personal life

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In December 2023, alongside 50 other filmmakers, Lasri signed an open letter published in Libération demanding a ceasefire and an end to the killing of civilians amid the 2023 Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, and for a humanitarian corridor into Gaza to be established for humanitarian aid, and the release of hostages.[6][7][8]

Works

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Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Credited as Notes
Director Screenwriter Producer Cinematographer
2002 Géométrie Du Remords Yes Yes No No Short film
2003 Rahma No Yes No No directed by Driss Chraïbi
2004 Ali J'nah Freestyle Yes Yes No No short film, produced by Nabil Ayouch
2005 Lunati(K)a Yes Yes No No short film
2005 Jardin des Rides Yes Yes No No short film
2006 Heart Edges No Yes No No Directed by Hicham Ayouch
Co-writer with Hicham Ayouch
2007 Tissée de mains et d'étoffe No Yes No No directed by Omar Chraïbi
2007 La beauté éparpillée No Yes No No Directed by Lahcen Zinoun
Co-writer with Lahcen Zinoun and Fatima Loukili
2010 Terminus des anges Yes Yes No No Co-director with Narjiss Nejjar and Mohamed Mouftakir
Co-writer with Narjiss Nejjar, Mohamed Mouftakir and Mehdi Ben Attia
2011 The End Yes Yes No No First feature film
2011 Android Yes Yes No Yes Short video
2013 C'est eux les chiens... Yes Yes No No
2013 Ymma No Yes No No Directed and produced by Rachid El Ouali
2014 The Sea Is Behind Yes Yes Yes No Co-producer with Lamia Chraibi
2015 Starve Your Dog Yes Yes Yes No
2017 Headbang Lullaby Yes No No No
2018 Jahilya Yes Yes Yes No
2019 Love in Aleppo Yes Yes No No short film
2019 Nayda? Yes Yes No No Documentary film
2024 Moroccan Badass Girl Yes Yes No Yes

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Tiwarga Art director Television film
2007 L'os de fer Director, writer Television film
2008 TiphinaR Director, writer Television film
2008 Houti Houta Art director Television film
2009 Le peuple de l’horloge Director, writer Television film
2009 la famille marche à l’ombre Director, writer Television film

Co-Writer with Youssef Karami

2016 Nhar Zwine Director, writer Television film

Web series

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Year Title Notes
June 2016 No Vaseline Fatwa 33 episodes
July 2016 Khal Rass (les basanés) 6 episodes
November 2016 Bissara Overdose 7 episodes
December 2016 Caca-Mind 5 episodes

Novels

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  • Stati©: roman à facettes. Eddif. 2009. ISBN 978-9954-1-0261-9.
  • Sainte Rita. Le Fennec. 2015. ISBN 978-9954-1-6772-4.
  • L'improbable fable de lady bobblehead. Les Éditions Rimal. 2020. ISBN 978-9920-9973-1-7.
  • L’effet Lucifer. Editions Onze. 2021. ISBN 978-9920-9107-2-9.

Graphic novels

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References

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  1. ^ "Hicham Lasri, un enfant prodige du cinéma". Aujourd'hui le Maroc (in French). Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  2. ^ "La machine " Hicham Lasri freestyle " est en route". Jeunes Du Maroc. 2010-01-05. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
  3. ^ a b c d Bennani, Mohamed (2016-01-13). "Hicham Lasri, cinéaste autodidacte et écrivain tout-terrain". Medias24 (in French). Retrieved 2020-04-19.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Higbee, Will (2019-07-02). "Introduction : le cinéma maghrébin transnational sous toutes ses formes". Expressions maghrébines. 18 (1): 7–17. doi:10.1353/exp.2019.0000. ISSN 2475-2401. S2CID 198813396.
  5. ^ ""Nayda", votre documentaire à regarder sur 2M, ce dimanche 06 octobre à 21h45". 2M (in French). Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  6. ^ "Gaza : des cinéastes du monde entier demandent un cessez-le-feu immédiat". Libération (in French). 28 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  7. ^ Newman, Nick (29 December 2023). "Claire Denis, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Christian Petzold, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & More Sign Demand for Ceasefire in Gaza". The Film Stage. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Directors of cinema sign petition for immediate ceasefire". The Jerusalem Post. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
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