May 11//THE CINEMA RIF 3 (THE FILM SCRIPT)

MOHAMMED: POSTERS

I STARTED WORKING IN THE CINEMA AT THE AGE OF 14. IT WAS 1964.

I USED TO GO TO THE CINEMA INSTEAD OF GOING TO SCHOOL SO IT WAS PERFECT. I WAS LAZY AT SCHOOL AND I WAS GETTING BAD GRADES. THE FIRST THING I DID WHEN I GOT KICKED OUT WAS WALK OVER TO THE CINEMA AMERICAIN NEAR THE PETIT SOCCO. IT DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE.

THEY TOLD ME THERE WAS AN OPENING AS AN APPRENTICE PROJECTIONIST AT THE MAURITANIA. ALL THE FOREIGN PROJECTIONISTS WERE LEAVING AT AROUND THAT TIME.

IN 1966 I BECAME A FULL-FLEDGED OPERATOR. WHEN I came to the Cinema Rif in 1979, THE PROJECTIONISTS WERE ON STRIKE.

(PAUSE)


I learned French in school, but I learned it even better while working at the cinema. All the projectionists, ushers and cashiers were Spanish. AT THE RIF we showed Arab, Egyptian and Lebanese films.

BUT The director was French. And most of the films were in French.

(PAUSE)

In 1964 I earned 4,000 Francs, 40 dirhams per week. Everything was less expensive. You could eat breakfast and dinner at home for 5 dirhams. A kilo of fish was 1 dirham, a kilo of tomatos or potatos was 20 centimes.

(PAUSE)

I MET MY WIFE AT THE CINEMA. SHE WAS THE CASHIER. AFTER I MARRIED MY WIFE I TOLD HER SHE SHOULDN’T WORK. SHE DOESN’T GO TO THE CINEMA ANYMORE, BUT SHE AND MY DAUGHTER WATCH OLD FILMS AT HOME. MY DAUGHTER LOVES THE OLD FILMS AND KNOWS ALL THE OLD ACTRESSES.

MY NAME IS MOHAMMED. I AM THE HEAD PROJECTIONIST.

SINHADJI_INTRO

MY NAME IS SINHAJDI.

I AM 65 AND I'VE BEEN AT THIS JOB SINCE 1965. AN OLD FRIEND OF MINE SAYS I HAVE CINEMA UNDER MY SKIN. IM THE DIRECTOR. I RUN THE THEATER.

(PAUSE)

IM FROM TANGIER. WHEN I WAS 26 YEARS OLD I WORKED IN A STATIONARY STORE. BUT I WAS BORED, I WANTED TO CHANGE PROFESSIONS.

A MAN I KNEW CAME SAID ARE YOU INTERESTED IN CINEMA. AND I SAY I CAN ALWAYS TRY. IT WAS MY FIRST CONTACT WITH CINEMA.
I'VE BEEN HERE FOR 40 YEARS.

SINHADJI_HISTORY

WHEN I STARTED THERE WERE 14 CINEMAS IN TANGIER, 14 THEATERS, EVERY OWNER HAD TWO OR THREE CINEMAS.

THERE WAS THE PARIS, THE CAPITOL, THE AMERICAN -- SAME OWNER.

THERE WAS THE LUX, THE GOYA, THE ALCAZAR -- SAME OWNER.

THE RIF AND THE VOX -- SAME OWNER.

EVERY THEATER WAS SPECIALIZED THEN.
MAURITANIA, LUX, GOYA PAIRS, THEY SHOWED AMERICAN FILMS OR EUROPEAN – FRENCH, ITALIAN, SPANISH.


SINHADJI_PRESENT

IN THE PAST, MAYBE 10 YEARS AGO, PEOPLE LOVED THE CINEMA.

Before there were a lot of women, 15, 20 years ago, none of them wore scarves or veils. They came with girlfriends or husbands, also boyfriends.

NOW There are new distractions. I think PEOPLE stopped coming because of the television.

They come out to get fresh air and do Paseo, look at people on the streets and see their friends. Not to come to cinema. . People watch on big screen tvs in cafes. .

BUT Here they find comfort, peace, if we can call it that. In a cafe there is a chaos and bRoUhaha.


CINEMA AT NIGHT SEQUENCE

SINHADJI_FORBIDDEN

It is forbidden to smoke in the cinema, in theory. but they are sneaky about it. They put it out or say it is the person next to them. So we stopped telling them.

People don't smoke Kif in the cinema, ok, maybe a couple times they have. But no, there is no kif in the cinema.

IT IS FORBIDDDEN TO KISS IN THE CINEMA. ITS SHAMEFUL TO KISS IN PUBLIC. If you kissed in the grand socco people would start yelling. It would be "la pagaille," a mess. Kissing on screen and kissing in public is different.

BUT THE USHER SOMETIMES CATCHES PEOPLE MAKING LOVE IN THE CINEMA. ONCE SHE WENT TO TELL THEM IT WASN’T ALLOWED AND THE MAN SAID, BUT SHES MY WIFE. SHE JUST TOLD THEM THIS NOT AN IDEAL PLACE FOR THAT.

(PAUSE)

ONE DAY A DJBELLA, A MOUNTAIN FARMER, BROUGHT HIS WIFE TO THE MOVIES. SHE HAD NEVER BEEN TO THE CITY BEFORE. WHEN TH E LIGHTS WENT OUT SHE STARTED SCREAMING AND RAN OUT OF THE CINEMA.
(PAUSE)

OUR REPUTATION? WELL WITHOUT HIDING ANYTHING, I THINK it’s a BAD ONE. BECAUSE OF THE BOLLYWOOD FILMS, THE VIOLENCE. VIOLENT FILMS ATTRACT VIOLENT PEOPLE. IF YOU SHOW VIOLENCE, PEOPLE WHO LIKE VIOLENCE WILL COME.


THE MORNING AFTER: A SLEEPY CINEMA WAKES UP


MOHAMED_FAVORITES

I remember Papillon with Steve McQueen. He had just broken out of prison and he jumped off a mountain, into the ocean.

I remember Clint Eastwood, Hang 'em High.
Fantomasse with Louis de Finesse.
I played The Godfather with Marlon BRANDO, State of Siege; there were revolutionary films, Costa Gavras in 1966: Z, a political film.

(PAUSE)

If you ask other people working here now if they know the great movies, they don't know it. They wouldn't know Peau d'Ane, WITH CATHERINE DENEUVE. They don't know the scene in that film when the old woman coughs up a toad.

(PAUSE)

Are bollywood films any good? There are some that are good. But they don't remain in my head like the other ones. They just don't stick.


SINHADJI_FAVORITES

THERE'S "CAT ON HOT TIN ROOF" WITH ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND RICHARD BURTON. THE TOWERING INFERNO, WITH,THE GUY FROM THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN WHATS HIS NAME?

WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE GUY WITH THE HAT. WITH A HAT. HE WAS ALWAYS THE BAD GUY. NO NOT YUL BRYNNER, THE SPAGHETTI GUY.

(PAUSE)

MY FIRST LOVE IN THE MOVIES WAS AN EGYPTIAN ACTRESS.
SOUAD HOUSNI.
SHE WAS A WONDERFUL ACTRESS AN INCREDIBLE WOMEN.
AND SHE DIED. SHE DIED VERY YOUNG, 50, 55.


SINHADJI_PROJECTION

TECHNICALLY THE PROJECTORS, I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT IT.
ALL I KNOW IS THAT THESE PROJECTORS HAVE BEEN HERE MORE THAN 40 YEARS. SINCE 1961.

WE TAKE OF THEM. THEYRE WELL MAINTAINED, MORE OR LESS.

WE STILL BUY CARBON RODS. THE ELECTRICITY GOES THROUGH THE RODS AND IT JUMPS AND MAKES THE LIGHT.

AND THEY WORK. THEY MORE OR LESS WORK. SOMETIMES THEY FADE IN THE MIDDLE OF MOVIES, SOMETIMES THEY BURN THE FILM.

THEY COME FROM ENGLAND NOW. THERE'S A GUY HERE WHO IMPORTS THEM. WE USED TO BRING IT FROM FRANCE. I FORGOT THE FAMOUS FRENCH BRAND.


MOHAMMED_PROJECTOR

we have two 1952 Microtechnica machines. THEYRE Italian. At the Mauritania I worked with the Wisterix, an English projector. no one in tangier has digital projectors. i’ll go to marakesh to learn.

(PAUSE)



YOU HAVE TO BE INTELLIGENT TO BE A PROJECTIONIST WITH THESE OLD MACHINES. SOMETIMES THE REELS COME IN THE WRONG BOXES. REEL 2 COMES IN BOX 4 AND REEL 4 IN BOX 2. YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE FILM, THE COLORS OF THE OUTFITS THE ACTORS ARE WEARING, IN THE FIRST REEL THE ACTOR IS WEARING YELLOW, THEN THEY CHANGE TO BLACK. THE WOMAN HAS A HAT, THEN SHE TAKES OFF THE HAT.

IF A CHARACTER DIES IN THE FILM, AND THE REELS ARE OUT OF ORDER, THE DEAD WILL COME BACK TO LIFE..

BUT THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS, FLASHBACKS, DREAMS. YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. THAT’S WHAT DIFFERENTIATES A GREAT PROJECTIONIST AND A GOOD ONE.


(PAUSE)


THE CUTS IN BOLLYWOOD FILMS ARE MORE CHAOTIC THAN THE ONES IN THE CLASSIC EUROPEAN FILMS. SOMETIMES IN ONE DANCE SEQUENCE THE CHARACTERS ARE WEARING THREE DIFFERENT OUTFITS AGAINST THREE DIFFERENT BACKDROPS.

(PAUSE)


ONE TIME WE WERE SHOWING CESAR WITH RICHARD BURTON AND ELIZABETH TAYLOR. CESAR EATS AN APPLE AND IT GETS STUCK IN HIS THROAT. DURING ONE SCREENING SOMEONE NOTICED THEY DIDN’T SEE CESAR EATING THE APPLE, A WOMAN NEXT TO HIM SAID, THE PROJECTIONIST ATE THE APPLE. IF HE ATE THE REEL, HE ALSO AT THE APPLE WITH IT.






SENHADJI_TOUR

WE HAD SORT OF A POLITICAL PROBLEM BETWEEN ALGERAI AND MOROCCO.
AND EGYPT TOOK SIDES WITH ALGERIA. SO WE COULDN'T PLAY EGYTPIAN FILMS

I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT THE WAR WAS ABOUT.

BUT IT WAS THE END OF EGYPTIAN CINEMA FOR US. ITS LOGICAL. THEY MADE WAR AGAINST US. WHY WOULD WE SHOW THEIR FILMS.

SO WE STARTED PLAYING INDIAN FILMS, BOLLYWOOD AND THAT'S HOW THE NIEGHBORHOOD WAS TOO, THERE WERE A LOT OF INDIANS HERE.
A LOT FROM THE INDIAN COMMUNITY AND THEY ALL CAME TO SEE THE FILMS. A LOT OF THEM LEFT IN THE MID-70S WITH MOROCCANIZATION.

THEN I REMEMBER IT WAS AUGUST OR MAYBE OCTOBER AND THEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ALGERIA WAS BETTER AGAIN AND WE GOT OUR EGYPTIAN FILMS BACK.

THE GRAND SOCCO IS NOT THE CHIC NEIGHBORHOOD, LIKE THE GRAND BOULEVARDS, WE'RE MORE POPULAR, MORE DEMOCRATIC. SO WE MADE A POPULAR CINEMA. WE HAD GOOD PEOPLE WE HAD WOMEN WITH THEIR HUSBANDS, FAMILIES.

BUT THE FRENCH FILMS WERE HERE TOO, ALAIN DELON. BELMONDO. AT THAT TIME WE USED TO LIKE THESE FILMS. WE LIKED GOING TO SEE ALL SORTS OF FILMS. WE LIKED GOING TO MOVES AND WE LIKED ALL SORTS OF FILM. WE DIDN'T CARE. WE JUST LIKED GOING TO THE MOVIES.


MOHAMED_END

there were no scoundrels, there were no loafers, just clean well-dressed people. When they came near the theater doors they saw all the perfumed ladies and gentlemen and left, they were afraid to come in. There were families at the cinema, whole families came to see the great films, multiple times.

(PAUSE)

I HEARD SOMEONE SAY WE WERE GOING TO START SHOWING THE CLASSICS AGAIN, AND GOOD NEW FILMS. IS IT TRUE? PEOPLE WOULD COMETHERE ARE MANY GOOD FAMILIES AROUND THE GRAND SOCCO MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER WOULD COME, OF COURSE. AND WITH THE NEW PROJECTORS THEY’LL BE ABLE TO HEAR THE MOVIE FROM THE PROJECTION BOOTH BECAUSE WE WON’T HAVE THE TRATATATAT OF THESE PROJECTORS.

(PAUSE)

FILM IS INTELLIGENT. IF IN A FILM THERE IS A BLACK ELEPHANT AND A WHITE ELEPHANT FIGHTING, AND THE WHITE ELEPHANT HITS THE BLACK INE, WE WILL UNDERSTAND SOMETHING FROM THAT, EVEN IF WE DON’T ADMIT IT TO OURSELVES. THE CINEMA IS A GREAT OCCUPATION.