Chalk Dreams in Ali Zaoua the Movie

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Chalk Dreams: The Use of Fantasy as a Method of Rethinking Life in Ali Zaoua By TIFFANY M. JOHNSON Set in the city of Casablanca, Morocco, Nabil Ayouch’s Moroccan film Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000) drifts between reality and fantasy to depict the realistic experiences and animated dreams of four young street urchins, Ali, Kwita, Boubker, and Omar. Chalk drawings recur throughout the film as a physical representation of the boys’ dream to move beyond their deprived lives on the streets. Unable to achieve modernity through physical or monetary means, the street children use these chalk dreams to temporarily obtain the reality that they desire: a modern life with a house and a traditional family. The technique of blending dreams and reality allows the film to create a dialogue about the dichotomy in Morocco between wealth and poverty, modernity and tradition. It is only in the moments of fantasy that the boys are able to imagine a world beyond the streets in which they can become a part of the modern society while keeping their traditional values. The film opens with images of chalk-drawings overlaid with the voice of Ali as he is being interviewed by a female reporter. He explains his outlandish dreams, goals, lifestyle, and past for both cameras – that of the interviewer and that of the film. When we finally see him, Ali is surrounded by a large group of boys, including his three companions. Ali is depicted as the clear leader of the group through his central location in the frame and the way the others hover over him. After a close-up of Ali’s face, the camera cuts to a scene with the four boys running and playing. Ali tells Kwita that he is going to leave them and go to his island, and then shows his companion his most prized possession – a compass that will guide him in a land with two suns. From this point on, the story drifts back and forth

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