Films

Index / Activities / Films / Tangier, Myth and Reality

Tangier, Myth and Reality

From July 26, 2018 until November 09, 2018Madrid: Screenings at 7:30 p.m. Cordoba: Screenings at 8:00 p.m.
MADRID AND CORDOBA
Casa Árabe Auditoriums. Madrid: Screenings at 7:30 p.m. Cordoba: Screenings at 8:00 p.m. See conditions for entrance in each city.
Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.

Casa Árabe has organized a new film series at its headquarters in Madrid and Cordoba. It is dedicated to the unique history of Tangier, known as the “White City.”

Across time, the unique history of Tangier has evoked a very different sensations among those travelers who have called in at its port. Tangier as a Pretext, as a leitmotif to speak about memory, solitude, freedom or melancholy, without setting aside the first times it appeared in Spanish literature, when Tangier was the nearest possible representation of “otherness.”

For centuries, the “White City” has produced an outstanding amount of literature and cinema for just one single city. The mythical aura of Tangier seems to be boundless, and even the year of 2017 ended with three Spanish novels devoted to the city on the Straits of Gibraltar: Limones negros (Black Lemons), Eva and Niebla en Tánger (Fog in Tangier). This is the idea which set the course in motion, with the title of “Tangier in Spanish Literature: A historical journey up to today.” Casa Árabe has arranged the course in the form of two sessions taking place during the month of October, under the coordination of Rocío Rojas-Marcos.

Within the realm of cinema, something similar will be taking place, and with this film series we hope to complement this view of Tangier from the vantage point of film, with recent documentary films that provide views of the city which has been written about by travelers, writers, consuls, journalists and soldiers from the time it was a diplomatic city in nineteenth-century Morocco and an international city in the first half of the twentieth century to an ignored city in the second half of the last century, finally giving way to a resurrection of its mythical status in the twenty-first century. Reviewing this sequence of viewpoints on Tangier will allow us to reconstruct the history of the city on the Straits of Gibraltar.
Tangier, Myth and Reality
Fotograma de la película "La vida perra"
  • Tangier, the Old Lady 

    Tangier, the Old Lady 

    September 21, 20188:00 p.m.
    CÓRDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Javier Rioyo and José Luis López-Linares directed this documentary, which you have the chance to see as the very first screening in the film series that Casa Árabe has devoted to the city on the Straits of Gibraltar from September through November.
    Documentary (Spain, 2011, 58 minutes).

    A witness to the last European wars of the twentieth century and a refuge for those who were escaping from them, Tangier has always remained open to people of all sorts of cultures, races, customs and religions. Across time, the city has hosted thebeat generation, English aristocrats, Italian princesses and writers like Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles, just as it once welcomed painters Delacroix and Fortuny in the past. In this documentary, the memories and dreams of a unique generation  are interwoven.
  • Tangier, the Old Lady

    Tangier, the Old Lady

    September 28, 20187:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Advance sales at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Casa Árabe is hosting this first screening at its Madrid headquarters in the film series devoted to the “White City,” which the institution has organized from September to November. The screening will be attended by the directors, Javier Rioyo and José Luis López-Linares.
    Directed by: Javier Rioyo and José Luis López-Linares. (Spain, 2011, 58 minutes) Documentary

    A witness to the last European wars of the twentieth century and a refuge for those who were escaping from them, Tangier has always remained open to people of all sorts of cultures, races, customs and religions. Across time, the city has hosted the beat generation, English aristocrats, Italian princesses and writers like Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles, just as it once welcomed painters Delacroix and Fortuny in the past. In this documentary, the memories and dreams of a unique generation  are interwoven.
  • Choukri, a Sincere Man
    Photo: Nicolas Muller

    Choukri, a Sincere Man

    October 05, 20187:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Advance sales at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Driss Deiback, the film’s director, will be taking part in a colloquium with the audience to be held after the film screening. This is the second session in the film series which Casa Árabe has devoted to Tangier.
    Directed by:  Driss Deiback (Spain, 2016, 48 min.) Documentary

    1942. It is a time of hunger in the Rif Mountains. A family leaves its house behind and sets off on the exodus leading to Tangier in search of a better life. However, a violent father’s cruelty forces young Mohamed Choukri to run away from home. It becomes a journey of learning. He endures hunger, fear and violence on the tough streets of Tangier and Tetouan. During the nights spent under the stars, he gets a taste of sex and the bitterness of prison. All of this will lead to the birth of a unique, cursed writer, Mohamed Choukri, illiterate until the age of twenty and the author of the famous book For Bread Alone, prohibited in nearly all Muslim countries with the exception of Morocco.
  • Emotional Map of Tangier

    October 05, 20188:00 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    A new documentary dedicated to the city of Tangier is reaching our Cordoba headquarters, as part of the film series which Casa Árabe has organized throughout the months of September and November. 
    Directed by: José Ramón Da Cruz (Spain, 2014, 105 min.) Documentary

    In this documentary, the director allows testimonials to take precedence over the images. In his words, physical marks (in this case, one could translate this as images) were never the important part, though the emotional marks left behind were (those people who speak from their own memories), allowing the city to get recreated bit by bit through the words of the people who describe it.
  • Choukri, a Sincere Man
    Photo: Nicolas Muller

    Choukri, a Sincere Man

    October 19, 20188:00 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Driss Deiback directed this documentary, which tells the life story of the author of the book “For Bread Alone.” The film screening forms part of the series which Casa Árabe has dedicated to the city of Tangier.
    Directed by: Driss Deiback (Spain, 2016, 48 min.) Documentary

    1942. It is a time of hunger in the Rif Mountains. A family leaves its home and sets off on the exodus leading to Tangier in search of a better life. However, a violent father’s cruelty forces young Mohamed Choukri to run away from home. It becomes a journey of learning. He endures hunger, fear and violence on the tough streets of Tangier and Tetouan. During the nights spent under the stars, he gets a taste of sex and the bitterness of prison. All of this will lead to the birth of a unique, cursed writer, Mohamed Choukri, illiterate until the age of twenty and the author of the famous book For Bread Alone, prohibited in nearly all Muslim countries with the exception of Morocco.
  • Emotional Map of Tangier

    October 19, 20187:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Advance sales at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    On Friday, October 19 in Madrid, we will be putting on yet another session in our film series dedicated to the “White City.” Tickets now on sale.
    Directed by José Ramón Da Cruz  (Spain, 2014, 105 minutes) Documentary

    In this documentary, the director allows testimonials to take precedence over the images. In his words, physical marks (in this case, one could translate this as images) were never the important part, though the emotional marks left behind were (those people who speak from their own memories), allowing the city to get recreated bit by bit through the words of the people who describe it.
  • La vida perra (The Wretched Life) 

    October 26, 20187:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. 5 euros: general tickets at the box office.
    4 euros: tickets purchased online, the officially unemployed, Casa Árabe Language Center students and Youth Card holders, by showing the proper documentation.
    You may only receive one discount. Advance sales at www.casaarabe.es. Those tickets not sold online will be put on sale the day of the screening at the Casa Árabe headquarters as of one hour before each film is shown. Assigned seats with tickets. 
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    For the last session in this film series, Casa Árabe has scheduled a world premiere that will include attendance by the film’s director, Pablo Macías.
    Directed by Pablo Macías (Spain, 2018, 60 min.) Documentary

    “La vida perra” is a documentary film about Tangier writer Ángel Vázquez. Filmed in the form of testimonials, it attempts to remain a clear and accurate documentary, while also a lively fresco showing the space in which the writer developed his work, that stimulating refuge for intellectuals and artists which international Tangiers became.
  • La vida perra (The Wretched Life)

    November 09, 20188:00 p.m.
    CORDOBA
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). 8:00 p.m. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    The documentary, dedicated to the life of Tangier writer Ángel Vázquez, brings an end to the film series which Casa Árabe has devoted to the city on the Straits of Gibraltar in the months of September and November.
    Directed by Pablo Macías (Spain, 2018, 60 min.) Documentary

    “La vida perra” is a documentary film about Tangiers writer Ángel Vázquez. Filmed in the form of testimonials, it attempts to remain a clear and accurate documentary, while also a lively fresco showing the space in which the writer developed his work, that stimulating refuge for intellectuals and artists which international Tangier became.


Casa Árabe and the Department of Culture and Festivities of the Autonomous City of Melilla