In Morocco, Article 490 of the Penal Code sentences single mothers to imprisonment. As for society, it castigates them as outcasts.
To defend them, Mahjouba Edbouche (sixty-two years old, feminist activist), founded the association Oum El Banine ("Mother of children") which takes in pregnant unmarried women who risk imprisonment or social exclusion because of having sexual intercourses without getting married.
In this place that protects them, the director takes us into their daily life and shows us their journey, from their arrival at the association to the birth of a child and sometimes to reconciliation with their family.

starring
Mahjouba Edbouche

a film by Myriam BAKIR

Morocco / France, 2020, documentary, 1h02, Portrait / Current Affairs

First documentary

Original Title: Oumahat
French Title: Mères
English Title: Mothers
Type: Feature Documentary
Genres: Portrait / Society (Current Affairs)
Duration: 62 minutes (1h02)
Year: 2020
Countries: France / Morocco
Tags : #FEATUREDOCUMENTARY #PRIMED2020 #MOTHERS #PRODUCTION #SEDNAFILMS #ABELAFLAM #MARSEILLE #MOROCCO, Portrait, Commitment, Exclusion, Woman, Youth, Justice, Morocco, Motherhood/Fatherhood, Tradition, Solidarity, Society, Injustice

Article 490 (Moroccan Penal Code):
"All persons of the opposite sex who are not bound by marriage and who have sexual relations with each other shall be punished with imprisonment from one month to one year."

- 30 to 50,000 new single mothers per year in Morocco. (1)
- 50,000 births outside marriage per year. (2)
- In 2018, 14,503 people were prosecuted for violations of article 490 of the penal code, 3,048 people were imprisoned for adultery.
Every day, between 600 and 800 clandestine abortions. (3)
(1) L'Humanité (daily, France) - 05/04/2017
(2) Le Monde (daily, France) - 16/03/2018
(3) Médias24 (Morocco) - 23/09/2019

PRODUCTEURS | PRODUCERS
Cécile Vachette
Jean Daniel Lefèbvre

RÉALISATRICE | DIRECTOR
Myriam Bakir

SCÉNARISTE | SCREENWRITER
Myriam Bakir

DIRECTRICE DE LA PHOTO | DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Gertrude Baillot

INGÉNIEURE DU SON | SOUND RECORDIST
Sanaa Fadel (Sana Fadel)

MONTEURS | EDITORS
Fatima Benbrahim
Laëtitia Daleme
Nicolas Sarkissian

COMPOSITEURS (MUSIQUE) | COMPOSERS (MUSIC)
B'nèt Houariyat
Hoba Hoba Spirit

DIRECTRICE DE LA PRODUCTION | PRODUCTION MANAGER
Ilham Raouf

ÉTALONNAGE | GRADING
Éric Salleron

MIXAGE | MIXER
Patrice RAYNAL

PRODUCTION | PRODUCTION
Sedna Films (France)
Abel Aflam (Morocco)

CO-PRODUCTION | COPRODUCTION
TV 2M Maroc (Morocco)
Lyon Capitale TV (France)
Ostinato Production (France)

PARTICIPATION | PARTICIPATION
CNC (France)

SOUTIEN | SUPPORT
Doha Film Institute
Procirep
Angoa

Copie (VENTES / FESTIVALS) | Print (SALES / FESTIVALS)
Sedna Films (France) | sednafilms(@)free.fr
Abel Aflam (Morocco) | contact(@)abelaflam.com

WEB / SOURCES
www.facebook.com/abelaflam
https://en.unifrance.org/movie/51193/mothers
www.film-documentaire.fr/4DACTION/w_fiche_film/60538_0


FESTIVALS
* Selection /// FIDADOC (2022, Agadir, Morocco) | Filmmaker in attendance
* Official Selection - Panorama /// DocsBarcelona - International Documentary Film Festival (2021, Barcelone, Spain)
* Winner: Prix des dionysien-ne-s /// PCMMO - Panorama des Cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen-Orient 2021 (from March 23 to April 11, 2021, in-person & online, Saint-Denis, France) | www.pcmmo.org/meres/ | www.pcmmo.org/la-16e-edition-du-pcmmo/
* Selection /// FIDADOC (online, 19/12/2020, Agadir, Morocco) | http://fidadoc2020.online
* Winner: Mediterranean Issues Award (Prix Enjeux méditerranéens) /// PriMed - International Festival of Mediterranean Documentary and Reportage (2020, Marseille, France) | www.primed.tv
* International Premiere (IDFA Competition for Mid-Length Documentary) /// IDFA - International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (2020, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
* Winner: Jury Special Mention /// Festival National du Film - FNF (2020, Tangiers, Morocco)