Behind each small news item on TV or an article in the newspaper often a bigger story is hidden than you might think at first glance. If you read about a Moroccan family with 10 children who constantly come into contact with various government organisations, including the police, the odds are that you’ll be making some assumptions. You will perhaps wonder whether the parents are really involved with their children or why they have 10 children as there is so much trouble. Naziha is the mother of such a troubled family and this documentary gives her a chance to tell her side of the story, to show that assumptions are often wrong.
She saw how it went wrong with their children, how they were treated by their father and what they went through. When an argument with her husband got out of hand and she told him she’d rather be beaten to death than to stay with him. It was at that moment she knew something had to change. She left her husband (who was 30 years older) and decided to contact several organisations for help. She no longer wanted her family to be labeled as “troubled” and this fascinating documentary shows how passionate she is to achieve that.
That approach and her decisions to contribute to the documentary is something which isn’t appreciated by everyone. Not only the local community but even her own son tells her she should keep her mouth shut. But she has one goal in mind and knows that she will be able to reach it. Everything seems to go fine until, and this comes as a huge shock, one of her sons appears to be involved in an event that is makes the news all over the country when a referee is killed during a football match.
During IDFA last year, this documentary won the audience award and rightfully so. Director Gülşah Doğan knows how to create an intimate portrait of a strong, combative woman who takes matters in her own hands, who wants to make a difference and therefore hopefully inspires others to do the same. A movie you can not miss.
