Paraboles

The Art of Telling

The final film in Emmanuelle Demoris' Mafrouza cycle. Mohamed Khattab runs a grocery in the area. A sheik, he also preaches the Friday sermon in the local mosque, but in the holiday period leading up to Eid, the «beards » arrive to take over the mosque. The people of Mafrouza discuss this takeover calmly and clear-sightedly. As one of Mohamed Khattab’s close friends comments, "the Brothers seek to attract people; if you love someone, you don’t try to attract them, you talk to them directly." Hurt, Mohamed Khattab keeps his intentions quiet, but he has not given up. What happens next gives him a chance to vent his anger and opposition, as well as express his bond with the film crew, now due to leave, the filming completed, after two years spent in the area.