Underplayed Gems

The Mother of All Lies (2023)

The Mother of All Lies poster
Original title
كذب أبيض
Directed by
Asmae El Moudir
Genre
documentary film
Country
Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt
Runtime
1h 37m
Rated
12
Rating
6.0 of 10 from 10 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A director investigates her own family's past to uncover truths hidden by silence and memory. She blends her personal story with the broader history of her country.

personalintrospectivecontemplativefamily-focusedhistoricalearnestreflective

What happens

The Mother of All Lies (Arabic: كذب أبيض, romanized: kadib ʿabyaḍ, lit. 'White Lies') is a 2023 Arabic-language documentary film directed, written, produced and edited by Asmae El Moudir. The film explores the director's search for truth in her family background, combining personal and national history. It is a co-production between Morocco, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The film had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where El Moudir won the Un Certain Regard Best Director award. In December of that year, it became the first Moroccan film in the 20-year history of the Marrakech International Film Festival to win the Étoile d'Or, the festival's top prize. It was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, and was one of the 15 finalist films in the December shortlist. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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