PLACE THE SUN SETS; THE WEST
Amin Zouiten
Sweden / Morocco
On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw shimmering light
SYNOPSIS
place the sun sets; the west is a film that takes place over a single Friday in the desert of southern Morocco. The narrative of the film is woven by an oral anecdote about a theft of gold in 1980s Morocco, an anecdote that serves as a guide through the film and the landscape. From dawn to dusk and finally night, the anecdote takes us to different places in Ouarzazate: abandoned film sets, the heart of the city and the new industrial landscape in the form of solar mirrors on Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex.
INTENTION
place the sun sets; the west is a film inspired by the now nearly extinct oral Moroccan storytelling tradition of the “Al-Halqa”. It uses the metaphor of gold to represent Ouarzazate’s constant economic opportunism and is structured in two parts, focusing on the story of gold and the location of Ouarzazate and its surroundings. The events in the film are loosely based on a reconstruction of a robbery that took place in the green valley of Fez in the 1980s, which are now transposed to the barren desert landscape of Ouarzazate, a popular filming location and site of one of the world’s largest solar power plants. The film aims to tell the story of changing conditions in a city that has historically attracted opportunism and fortune-seekers. I was told about the oral narrative by my father when I was growing up, as we often re-watched pirated DVDs of a film shot in Ouarzazate, which sparked the initial interest and eventually led to the making of this film. Through place the sun sets; the west, I want to build on my roots in documentary film and visual arts and forge my first steps into the world of fiction film by creating a story that develops narrative dots between Morocco and Sweden, North Africa and Europe.
DIRECTOR
Amin Zouiten
Amin Zouiten (b.1994) is a Swedish-Moroccan filmmaker and artist educated at Malmö Art Academy and Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. His works and films have been exhibited at Malmö Konsthall, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Kunsthalle Charlottenborg, CPH:DOX, Tempo Documentary Festival.
PRODUCER
Claes Hedlund
Claes Hedlund (b.1995) is a Scandinavian film producer, educated at the National Film School of Denmark. He has a great interest in opening up new film rooms and collaborating across national borders and is currently involved in projects all over Scandinavia. place the sun sets; the west is the first project he’s working on with the distinguished production company Plattform Produktion.
Genre
Drama
Length
14 min
Language
Darija
Co-writer
Aron Skoog
Shooting location
Ouarzazate, Morocco
Production companies
Plattform Produktion (Sweden), Film i Väst (Sweden), Lampray (Sweden), Kasbah Film (Morocco)
Estimated budget
€105.000
Secured funding
The Swedish Film Institute - €28.000, Film i Väst - €8.000, Film i Västerbotten - €8.000, SVT - €12.000, Filmögon - €2.300, Filmbasen - €2.300, Tempo Film Festival - €5.500, Plattform Produktion - €17.000, Kasbah Film - €12.000, Lampray - €2.000
Looking for
Coproducers, Distribution, Festivals