Ismael El Maoula El Iraki (born 1983 in Morocco) is a French-Moroccan filmmaker. He is a survivor of the November 2015 attacks on the Bataclan in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, which inspired his first feature film, '' Zanka Contact''.

Biography

El Iraki was born in Morocco in 1983. He moved to France in 2001, where he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

film theory Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...

before entering the directing section of

La Fémis La Fémis (French: ''École nationale supérieure des Métiers de l'Image et du Son''; "National Institute for Professional Image and Sound", formerly known as the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques, IDHEC) is a French grande écol ...

in 2004. His short film Carcasse, a sci-fi movie about construction workers in the Sahara, won the Short Film Corner Award in Cannes. His second short film Harash, a dark comedy thriller set in Casablanca, won the Jury Award and the Attention Talent Directing Award at the

Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival The Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (French: ''Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand'') is an international film festival dedicated to short films held annually in Clermont-Ferrand, France. It is the ...

. They were both edited on DVD by the

FNAC Fnac () is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics. Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...

French cultural retail chain. El Iraki is a survivor of the November 2015 Paris attack at the Bataclan. His experience of PTSD was channeled into his feature film ''Zanka Contact'' (a.k.a. ''Burning Casablanca'').

Zanka Contact

El Iraki kept many of the cast and crew from his shorts (including actors Said Bey and Mourad Zaoui) on his first feature '' Zanka Contact'', also known under the French release title ''Burning Casablanca''. The movie premiered in 2020 in the official selection of the

77th Venice International Film Festival The 77th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 September 2020, at Venice Lido in Italy. Albeit in a "more restrained format" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival held all its screenings with public presence. Aust ...

. The lead actress Khansa Batma won the Lion for Best Actress Orizzonti section. Despite being premiered in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the movie still obtained many selections in international festivals around the world:

Busan International Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF; ), formerly the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), held annually in Haeundae District, Busan, South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festival, held fro ...

São Paulo International Film Festival The São Paulo International Film Festival (), also known internationally as Mostra, is an annual film festival held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South Ame ...

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

and many more. Described as a rock n' roll thriller-western set in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, compared to '' Wild At Heart'' or '' Head-On'' and shot on

35mm film 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film 35 mm film is a film gauge used in filmmaking, and the film standard. In motion pictures that record on ...

in a

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

Anamorphic Anamorphic format is a cinematography technique that captures widescreen images using recording media with narrower native Aspect ratio (image), aspect ratios. Originally developed for 35 mm movie film, 35 mm film to create widescreen pres ...

, Zanka Contact went on the win several international award

among which the Best Film Awar

at the

Luxor African Film Festival The Luxor African Film Festival (LAFF) is an annual film festival for African cinema in Luxor, Egypt. In October 2019 the Malmö Arab Film Festival recognized LAFF for having "made great strides and ecomeone of the most important festivals sp ...

. ''Zanka Contact'' was theatrically released in France on November 3, 2021, under the changed title ''Burning Casablanca''. Director explained that the change was decided with the French distributor during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to avoid sounding like the French phrase "cas contact", which refers to someone who had close contact with a COVID-19 case. The film beneficiated from a wave of support from film critics in Francehttps://www.leparisien.fr/culture-loisirs/cinema/comment-le-film-flamboyant-burning-casablanca-est-ne-de-la-nuit-du-bataclan-02-11-2021-QAVJEVDAHBCD5GFQ5P4BIADYBQ.php and did well theatrically for a post-COVID release. The Moroccan release took place on December 1, 2021, to critic and commercial acclaim. 10 months later in September 2022, Zanka Contact participated in the

Tangier National Film Festival Tangier ( ; , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The city is the capital city, capital of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, as well as the Tangier-Assilah Prefecture of Moroc ...

and won Best Film and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for actress Fatima Attif.

Filmography

Feature films

* 2020: '' Zanka Contact'' A.K.A Burning Casablanca (French title)

Short films

* 2007: ''Carcasse'' * 2008: ''Harash''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iraki, Ismael Moroccan film directors French film directors 1983 births Living people La Fémis alumni