Samira El Mouzghibati
2024
Belgium | France
French, Arabic, Riffian
Documentary
100 minutes
As the youngest among my five sisters, I am aware that I carry a painful legacy from their past. In response to a tragic incident that was kept quiet, my sisters formed a clan with a tight-knit bond from which our mother was excluded. Thus, when we talked about her we said "your mother", as if she was no longer ours. For the very first time, we hear what she has to say – Samira El Mouzghibati
Director of Photography | Victoire Bonin
Editor | Lenka Fillnerova
Sound Editing | David Vranken & Thomé Dubaux
Sound Mixer | Senjan Jansen
Colorist | Kene Illegems
Music | Yannick Dupont
Visions du Réel | Burning Light Competition
Born in Belgium to parents from the Rif region of Morocco, Samira El Mouzghibati pursued her studies at INSAS Brussels, where she chose to specialize in editing and script work. She gradually enriched her experience by participating in various projects, collaborating with directors from different backgrounds, for short and feature-length films, both fiction and documentary, in Geneva, Marrakech, Marseille and Brussels.
Convinced of the transformative power of cinema, Samira directed her first documentary (Y)OUR MOTHER (Les Miennes). She delicately weaves personal and universal narratives while reconnecting with her roots. Samira strives to delve into intimate subjects through her work, constantly seeking to redefine the boundaries of cinematic storytelling.
Samira El Mouzghibati tells us with authenticity in her first documentary feature how, years after her birth, she met her mother again. The film deals gently and consciously with how silences created distance between these sisters and their mother. Samira emotionally captures how a mother is not born a mother, but becomes one.
