Mahmoud Zabennej

Abdel’s quiet life is upended by the arrival of his extroverted cousin, who’s staying for the summer. Fatima craves a more stable life since she’s starting a new job as a supermarket cashier. Toussaint, while fishing, finds a bottle washed up on the shore, and there’s a message inside. Straddling the line between fiction and documentary, Les Rayons Gamma / Gamma Rays is a dramedy filmed with young, non-professional actors from immigrant communities.

July 1982 in Morocco. Samir, a 16-year-old fisherman, is learning English in the hope of leaving his village. Louis, a Western tourist traveling with his wife, has to explain himself in a language that is not his own. Samir is the only one who can help him, and must make an important decision when Louis faces the worst.