Tinghir - Jerusalem,
The Echoes from the Mellah
Kamal Hachkar
2011 - 86 min - HD - Couleur - France, Maroc

In France, I grew up with the idea that all Berbers were Muslims. But in Tinghir, my hometown in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, speaking with my grandparents made me realize that some Berbers were Jewish and that in many a village, Muslims and Jews had lived together for a long time. At the beginning of the sixties however, after two thousand years of common history, all those Jews bar none left the region. Wishing to know more about this buried Jewish presence, I talked to members of the older generation and was soon led to Israel, where I went and met some families originally from Tinghir. Here as there, older people told me about their past lives and answered my questions : How did these two communities live together? How and why did they separate so suddenly and forever? And why such a blackout now about this fact? On meeting my Jewish alter egos, Israelis and French of my generation originally from Tinghir too, I realized I was not alone in my quest and that we all shared the same desire to delve into our common heritage. By resurrecting this buried part of our identities, will my generation be able to acknowledge the bonds broken by History? Together with these young people in Israel, Morocco and France, "Tinghir, Echoes from the Mellah" will bring back to life the songs, voices and stories of this dual identity shared by Jews and Muslims alike.