North American Premiere
The vibrant city of Marrakech is a magnet for European tourists, and all they need to get there is their passport and a plane ticket. But, without a visa, the locals don’t enjoy the same freedom of movement. Many young Moroccans, like Samir, consider marrying a foreigner the key to pursuing a better life in Europe. Dreaming of love, and of leaving his home country, he laments the fleetingness of his relationships with the tourists he dates—never knowing if they’ll come back someday because they’re drawn to him, or to the destination.
Meanwhile, Samir’s sisters have high hopes that he will find stability and satisfaction through an arranged marriage with a Moroccan woman. When he falls in love with a tourist, Samir must weigh a life-changing decision: follow his girlfriend to Europe, against his sisters’ wishes? Or marry a woman he doesn’t know, selected for him by his family? Complemented by a fantastically stirring soundtrack, Julia Furer’s wistful documentary explores the emotional complexity of long-distance relationships and culture clash in a globalized world.
Q&A Sept 30 & Oct 8
Supported by
Media Partner
Switzerland
2021
In Arabic, Berber, and English with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Love
This warm, thoughtful piece offers shrewd comic observations on modern dating as it trains a quizzical eye on the trysts of a female doctor, Marianne (Andrea Bræin Hovig), and her colleague, a gay male nurse, Tor (Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen).
Sex
Two chimney sweeps living in heterosexual marriages find their views on sexuality and gender challenged by a series of unexpected events. In a set of sharply scripted conversations, both men confront heretofore unexplored aspects of their identity.
3 Faces
Iranian filmmaker Panahi and actress Behnaz Jafari, both playing themselves, receive a video in which a distraught teenaged girl, whose acting dreams have been quashed appears to kill herself. Panahi and Jafari decide to investigate...
Dreams
The third installment in the Sex/Dreams/Love trilogy is another rich, absorbing tale. 17-year-old Johanne writes a confessional about her flirtation with a (female) teacher. But the writing is too good to stay private...
Transit
Trust the director of Phoenix and Barbara to re-imagine a WWII romantic intrigue into something unsettlingly contemporary. With occupying forces closing in, a German refugee (Franz Rogowski) assumes a dead writer's identity and flees to Marseille.
Credits
Producer
Franziska Sonder, Stella Händler
Screenwriter
Julia Furer
Cinematography
Nathalie Kamber
Editor
Marielle Pohlmann
Original Music
Moritz Widrig
Director
Julia Furer
Julia Furer has a Bachelor of Arts from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 2015, she received the Promotion Award of the zeugindesign Foundation for her documentary Julian. She has a Master’s in Film, specializing in documentary film, from Zurich University of the Arts. In 2022, she won the Swiss Film Award for Best Graduation Film for her first feature documentary, Love Will Come Later.