All Projects

Mimosas

Fall Grant 2015 - Post-Production Stage

Synopsis

An elderly sheikh, nearing death, seeks to travel to his birthplace in the Atlas Mountains so he may find final rest among his family and loved ones, but the road is treacherous and more than the caravan that accompanies him can manage. When the old man dies, a guide is recruited from a ragtag group of itinerant workers, and he takes on the task of leading the small party of three whose task it is to return the old man’s body home.

Bordering on the surreal, ‘Mimosas’ travels deeper and deeper into the mountain range, seeming to dislocate itself in time and becoming an inner journey of endurance, passion and will. The duty-bound men are increasingly focused on their goal to the extent that it becomes a moral mission; one by one they face their doubts and fears, gaining strength from hardship and faith from failure.

Drawn in part from director Oliver Laxe’s experiences of exploring Sufism, the film is a stunningly beautiful (16mm cinematography splendidly captures the wild elegance of the landscape, its wide-open plains contrasting with its narrow, craggy passes), carefully considered and deeply moving meditation on the possibilities of approaching, and perhaps convening with, the divine.

Credits

Director

Oliver Laxe

Screenwriter

Santiago Fillol, Oliver Laxe

Producer

Lamia Chraibi, Nadia Turincev, Felipe Lage Coro

Production Company

Zeitun Films, Rouge International, LA PROD

Production Company

Zeitun Films

About the Director

Oliver Laxe lives and works in Morocco. His first feature-length film, ‘You All Are Captains’ (2010) was premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Festival de Cannes, where he received the FIPRESCI Prize. He is one of the founders of Zeitun Films. He is currently working on a new feature, ‘Yihad’.

Awards and Festival History

Festivals

Toronto International Film Festival 2016, Wavelenghts
Milano Film Festival 2016, Feature Film Competition
BFI London Film Festival 2016
Busan International Film Festival 2016, Flash Forward
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2016, Another View

Awards

Nespresso Grand Prix, Cannes Film Festival 2016, Critics' Week (WP)
Critics Prize, Minsk International Film Festival 2016
Jury Special Prize, Seville International Film Festival 2016
Pyramide d'Or and Best Actor, Cairo International Film Festival 2016

Contacts

• Director

  Oliver Laxe

• Main Contact

  Felipe Lage Coro

  Company: 

  Zeitun Films

  Phone: 

  +34662046454

  Email: 

  Felipe.lage@zeitunfilms.com

Top of page