Faouzi Bensaïdi

Directing

Faouzi Bensaïdi

Born 1967-03-14 · Meknès, Morocco

Faouzi Bensaïdi, born 14 March 1967, is a Moroccan film director, actor, screenwriter and artist. His film A THOUSAND MONTHS (2003) was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. In 2007 and 2009 he has taken part in the Arts in Marrakech Festival showing and discussing his films and installations. In 2011, his film DEATH FOR SALE premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.

Acting credits

Braids poster
8.0

Amin is a teenage boy who lives with his two sisters, Kenza and Saida, in Tangier. Tragedy strikes when Saida is raped by the son of the man Kenza works for as a maid. The father threatens the girl not to press any charges against his son since he is running for elections.

Braids

2000

No artwork available
9.0

Tahar is a retired blacksmith living with his son from his first marriage. After seeing his late second wife in a dream, he decides to visit her grave, in Azemmour. In the trip, he meets Driss who is going to Essaouira, looking for his mother whom he has never known after receiving a letter about her. The two men go to Marrakech together where Driss gets a combination motorbike that Tahar calls "wind horse". And they begin their journey together, first to Azemmour, then to Essaouira, looking for their past.

Wind Horse

2002

It Must Be Heaven poster
6.5

Filmmaker Elia Suleiman travels to different cities and finds unexpected parallels to his homeland of Palestine.

It Must Be Heaven

2019

Saint Laurent poster
6.1

1967-1976. As one of history's greatest fashion designers entered a decade of freedom, neither came out of it in one piece.

Saint Laurent

2014

Dheepan poster
6.8

Three war-torn strangers posing as a family flee Sri Lanka’s civil war to start over in a troubled Paris suburb, but their past traumas resurface as they struggle to survive in their new environment.

Dheepan

2015

Deserts poster
6.6

Longtime friends, Mehdi and Hamid, work for a collection agency. They crisscross the villages of southern Morocco in their old car and share double rooms in shabby hotels. They are exactly the same size, and wear the same suits and ties, as well as the same shoes. Paid nearly nothing, they try to play hard to make good figures. One day, in a gas station planted in the middle of the desert, a motorcycle parks in front of them. A man is handcuffed to the luggage rack, threatening. It’s the Evader. Their meeting marks the beginning of an unforeseen and mystical journey.

Deserts

2023

Far Away poster
5.8

Serge is a long distance lorry driver between Morocco andEurope. In Tangier, he tries to reconcile with his former girlfriend, Sarah. She has refused to have anything to do with him since her mother’s death and intends to join her brother in Canada. Serge appeals to Sarah’s protector, a young Arab named Saïd, to allow him to meet up with Sarah, promising in return to smuggle Saïd into Europe...

Far Away

2001

The Blessed poster
6.5

Algiers, a few years after the civil war. Amal and Samir have decided to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary in a restaurant. While on their way, their share their views on Algeria: Amal talks about lost illusions and Samir about the necessity to cope with them. At the same time, their son Fahim and his friends Feriel and Reda are wandering about in a hostile Algiers about to steal their youth.

The Blessed

2017

Mektoub poster
6.0

A young woman attending a conference in Tangier with her husband is kidnapped and raped, but rebuilds her relationship with her husband on a trip to the south of Morocco.

Mektoub

1997

Death for Sale poster
6.3

In Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.

Death for Sale

2011

Volubilis poster
6.1

Volubilis is a tale of love in a world of despair, of beauty among the ruins. In the Moroccan city of Meknès, recently married Abdelkader and Malika struggle to make ends meet. They dream of leaving the family house and finally starting a life of their own together. But one day at work, Abdelkader gets mixed up in a violent incident that will turn their lives upside down.

Volubilis

2017

Lola Pater poster
6.0

When his mother dies, Zino decides to look for his father, Farid. But twenty-five years ago, Farid became Lola.

Lola Pater

2017

Goodbye Morocco poster
4.9

Tangier. Dounia decides to sell on the black market the antiques uncovered on the building site she manages. She hopes to raise enough money to be able to leave Morocco with her son, who she hardly ever sees since her divorce. The death of a worker disrupts her plan...

Goodbye Morocco

2013

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Jeudi moins le quart

Sofia poster
6.2

Sofia, 20, lives with her parents in Casablanca. Suffering from pregnancy denial, she finds herself breaking the law by giving birth to a baby out of wedlock. The hospital gives her 24 hours to provide the father's papers before informing the authorities…

Sofia

2018

WWW: What a Wonderful World poster
7.1

Casablanca, a city of contrasts, modern and traditional. Kamel is a murderer for hire who receives his encrypted assignments online. After his executions, he usually calls Souad, an occasional prostitute. But the phone is always answered by her friend Kenza, traffic officer and responsible for the largest roundabout in the city. Kamel soon falls in love with that voice and begins to seek her. Meanwhile, Hicham, a computer hacker, who dreams of emigrating to Europe, is infiltrated by chance in Kamel plans ...

WWW: What a Wonderful World

2006

My Dad is not Dead poster
NR

Malik and his father Mehdi live in a funfair where they work as handymen. Mehdi gives his son five special paintings. Curious Malik is dazzled by the beauty of these works. The next day, the two accidentally find themselves in the middle of a political rally. Mehdi is brutalized in front of Malik by two cops who accuse him of propaganda against the government. Later that night, the police burst into the funfair and arrested Mehdi. Shocked, Malik begins searching for his father with the help of the other showmen, finding answers in the paintings his father left behind.

My Dad is not Dead

2023

A Thousand Months poster
5.4

1981, Morocco. A village in the Atlas mountains. A city in the distance. A child. A family facing its destiny.

A Thousand Months

2003

Behind the camera

Deserts poster
6.6

Longtime friends, Mehdi and Hamid, work for a collection agency. They crisscross the villages of southern Morocco in their old car and share double rooms in shabby hotels. They are exactly the same size, and wear the same suits and ties, as well as the same shoes. Paid nearly nothing, they try to play hard to make good figures. One day, in a gas station planted in the middle of the desert, a motorcycle parks in front of them. A man is handcuffed to the luggage rack, threatening. It’s the Evader. Their meeting marks the beginning of an unforeseen and mystical journey.

Deserts

2023

Deserts poster
6.6

Longtime friends, Mehdi and Hamid, work for a collection agency. They crisscross the villages of southern Morocco in their old car and share double rooms in shabby hotels. They are exactly the same size, and wear the same suits and ties, as well as the same shoes. Paid nearly nothing, they try to play hard to make good figures. One day, in a gas station planted in the middle of the desert, a motorcycle parks in front of them. A man is handcuffed to the luggage rack, threatening. It’s the Evader. Their meeting marks the beginning of an unforeseen and mystical journey.

Deserts

2023

Far Away poster
5.8

Serge is a long distance lorry driver between Morocco andEurope. In Tangier, he tries to reconcile with his former girlfriend, Sarah. She has refused to have anything to do with him since her mother’s death and intends to join her brother in Canada. Serge appeals to Sarah’s protector, a young Arab named Saïd, to allow him to meet up with Sarah, promising in return to smuggle Saïd into Europe...

Far Away

2001

Mektoub poster
6.0

A young woman attending a conference in Tangier with her husband is kidnapped and raped, but rebuilds her relationship with her husband on a trip to the south of Morocco.

Mektoub

1997

Death for Sale poster
6.3

In Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.

Death for Sale

2011

Death for Sale poster
6.3

In Tetouan, at the northern edge of Morocco, three young men decide to rob a jewelry store. The heist goes awry, and their destinies part drastically.

Death for Sale

2011

Volubilis poster
6.1

Volubilis is a tale of love in a world of despair, of beauty among the ruins. In the Moroccan city of Meknès, recently married Abdelkader and Malika struggle to make ends meet. They dream of leaving the family house and finally starting a life of their own together. But one day at work, Abdelkader gets mixed up in a violent incident that will turn their lives upside down.

Volubilis

2017

Volubilis poster
6.1

Volubilis is a tale of love in a world of despair, of beauty among the ruins. In the Moroccan city of Meknès, recently married Abdelkader and Malika struggle to make ends meet. They dream of leaving the family house and finally starting a life of their own together. But one day at work, Abdelkader gets mixed up in a violent incident that will turn their lives upside down.

Volubilis

2017

Volubilis poster
6.1

Volubilis is a tale of love in a world of despair, of beauty among the ruins. In the Moroccan city of Meknès, recently married Abdelkader and Malika struggle to make ends meet. They dream of leaving the family house and finally starting a life of their own together. But one day at work, Abdelkader gets mixed up in a violent incident that will turn their lives upside down.

Volubilis

2017

Summer Days poster
NR

The members of a debt-ridden family reunite in an evanescent Tangier, running away from painful memories but at the same time clinging to a past they do not want to forget. Their childhood home and its magnificent estate are due to be sold in early autumn; increasingly, summer days fade into distant memory.

Summer Days

2022

Summer Days poster
NR

The members of a debt-ridden family reunite in an evanescent Tangier, running away from painful memories but at the same time clinging to a past they do not want to forget. Their childhood home and its magnificent estate are due to be sold in early autumn; increasingly, summer days fade into distant memory.

Summer Days

2022

Short Plays poster
5.1

Football seen through the eyes of some of the best directors of the world.

Short Plays

2014

Interdependence poster
5.0

Started in 2018, the project – comprised of 11 segments by filmmakers from all around the world – reflects on the intertwined relationship between human society and nature that is aggravated by climate change on multiple scales, hinting at possible solutions.

Interdependence

2019

Interdependence poster
5.0

Started in 2018, the project – comprised of 11 segments by filmmakers from all around the world – reflects on the intertwined relationship between human society and nature that is aggravated by climate change on multiple scales, hinting at possible solutions.

Interdependence

2019

Interactions - When Cinema Looks to Nature poster
NR

Twelve international filmmakers create connections between humans and animals, through biodiversity, ecosystem, climate change, environment and water risks.

Interactions - When Cinema Looks to Nature

2022

The wall poster
8.0

The brief and unending story of a wall and its encounters with man.

The wall

2000

The wall poster
8.0

The brief and unending story of a wall and its encounters with man.

The wall

2000

WWW: What a Wonderful World poster
7.1

Casablanca, a city of contrasts, modern and traditional. Kamel is a murderer for hire who receives his encrypted assignments online. After his executions, he usually calls Souad, an occasional prostitute. But the phone is always answered by her friend Kenza, traffic officer and responsible for the largest roundabout in the city. Kamel soon falls in love with that voice and begins to seek her. Meanwhile, Hicham, a computer hacker, who dreams of emigrating to Europe, is infiltrated by chance in Kamel plans ...

WWW: What a Wonderful World

2006

WWW: What a Wonderful World poster
7.1

Casablanca, a city of contrasts, modern and traditional. Kamel is a murderer for hire who receives his encrypted assignments online. After his executions, he usually calls Souad, an occasional prostitute. But the phone is always answered by her friend Kenza, traffic officer and responsible for the largest roundabout in the city. Kamel soon falls in love with that voice and begins to seek her. Meanwhile, Hicham, a computer hacker, who dreams of emigrating to Europe, is infiltrated by chance in Kamel plans ...

WWW: What a Wonderful World

2006

A Thousand Months poster
5.4

1981, Morocco. A village in the Atlas mountains. A city in the distance. A child. A family facing its destiny.

A Thousand Months

2003

A Thousand Months poster
5.4

1981, Morocco. A village in the Atlas mountains. A city in the distance. A child. A family facing its destiny.

A Thousand Months

2003

The Cliff poster
7.0

In a small village near a beach, Hakim and his little brother Saïd do odd jobs (whitewash a tomb, resell empty bottles).

The Cliff

1999

Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone? poster
NR

In the désert, a lone rider approaches at full gallop. His old tired horse is not convincing. Let's do the scene again. Still not convincing. What are we going to do with this horse?

Why Did You Leave the Horse Alone?

2024

No artwork available
9.0

A rainy night between Rabat and Casa; a young girl, her mother, and her father: characters in disarray seeking to reunite...

The Rain Line

2000