Casablanca Beats (Haut et fort)

Wednesday 7 Augut at 7.30pm

Nabil Ayouch | France/Morocco | 2021 | 101 mins | M offensive language & domestic abuse themes

Courtesy of the Institut Français and the Embassy of France.

A rapper-turned-teacher helps his students find their creative voice in this grittily empowering hip-hop fable.

“The Arabic title of Franco-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s empowering hip-hop fable translates loosely as “raise your voice”, while in France, where the film competed for the Cannes Palme d’Or, it’s known as Haut et fort— “high and loud”. Both monikers perfectly capture the vibrant spirit of this stirring street musical, described by its creator as arising out of “the desire to make a film to give voice to young people”. On one level it’s a patchwork of popular cinematic tropes, combining the strength-through-music themes of films as diverse as 8 Mile and School of Rock with the inspirational classroom formats of everything from Blackboard Jungle to Dead Poets Society. But there’s also a strong whiff of the discursive politics of Ken Loach’s Land of Freedom, mixed with the accessible rebellion of Jafar Panahi’s Offside or Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s Mustang—a heady brew indeed… Casablanca Beats has an infectious energy that pulls us into the ever-changing worlds of its characters. Crucially, it does so in a manner that is both enticing and accessible, giving a platform to the young voices that Ayouch passionately believes are a positive force in increasingly troubled times, offering “a sign that the world is changing”. On this evidence, it’s hard to disagree.” – Mark Kermode, The Observer