Just because a film premieres out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival doesn’t mean it’s not a must-watch. For example, take the fest’s Un Certain Regard section, which aims to curate films that exemplify the richness and diversity of different cinema cultures worldwide. One of the more intriguing movie in that section this year? Asmae El Moudir‘s documentary “The Mother Of All Lies,” which premieres toward the end of Cannes’ first week.
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El Moudir’s doc sees the Moroccan filmmaker attempt to disentangle the truth of her childhood from the web of lies her family told about it. But after the unearths the truths, she realizes why her loved one’s went to such lengths to hide it.
Here’s an official synopsis for “The Mother Of All Lies”:
Young Moroccan filmmaker Asmae el Moudir wants to know why she only has one photograph from her childhood, and why the girl in the picture isn’t even her. She decides to explore the past and its mysteries by creating a handmade replica of the Casablanca neighborhood where she grew up. There, she begins to interrogate the tales her mother, father and grandmother tell about their home and their country. Slowly, she starts to unravel the layers of deception and intentional forgetting that have shaped her life. The truth is hard to face, but in this sometimes surreal and strikingly inventive nonfiction film, El Moudir begins to draw what is real to the surface.
“The Mother Of All Lies” is El Moudir’s first feature film. The doc is her follow-up to her 2020 film “The Postcard,” which follows a similar premise, as El Moudir tracks her mother’s past when she discovers an old postcard in her belongings.
So will “The Mother Of All Lies” be a favorite to win the Prix un certain regard this year? Stay tuned on that as more films in the section get their trailers. El Moudir’s doc premires at Cannes on May 24. Watch a trailer for “The Mother Of All Lies” below.