Mohammed Mrabet

Tangier, Europe's gateway to Africa, was an international playground for eccentric millionaires, famous artists, crooks, and secret agents in the 1940s and 50s. Interviews with well-known and lesser-known figures from that era are interwoven with historical and contemporary photographs in this essay about the city's golden age. These elements are linked by the story of a former secret diplomat who returns to the city after more than 40 years, haunted by the past and the loss of his former lover.

The American composer and author Paul Bowles was a man with a great deal of charisma and influence. When he moved to Tangier, Morocco, in 1949, half the world followed him to the enigmatic city. His marriage with author Jane Bowles was a loving relationship of opposites, even though both were homosexual. Based on exclusive interviews with Bowles shortly before his death interwoven with anecdotes recounted by his friends and co-workers, the film portrays a daring and visionary life as well as a relationship shaped by an interdependency that encompassed much more than sexuality.

Made in the sunset years of Paul Bowles’ life, the film sees the eccentric author and composer reminisce on how he ended up in Morocco.

The great Moroccan storyteller Mohammed Mrabet telling two stories to Shakib.