“(Y)our Mother”, interview with director Samira El Mouzghibati

At the 16th Bari International Film & Tv Festival, FRED Film Radio interviewed the director Samira El Mouzghibati to talk about “(Y)our Mother”, a film presented at the Meridiana section.

The meaning of family

In “(Y)our Mother”, Samira El Mouzghibati asks her sisters what family means to them. But what does family mean to the director? Did the concept of family change after the documentary? “It’s interesting because in the movie it’s also a question I ask to myself and to me family was very much a relationship I needed to preserve and not to lose. And all the fears that come with it”, says El Mouzghibati. “So the fear of talking, the fear of saying the truth because you are afraid to lose your family if you say too much. But with this film, I understood that family ties are so strong that you can go a long way with your family and tell deep truths because we are family and the ties are very strong”.

A gift for herself?

In “(Y)our Mother” the director has the opportunity to delve into very intimate aspects of her mother’s life and the relationship between the woman and her sisters. Does Samira El Mouzghibati also consider the documentary a gift to herself and to them? “Maybe there was something of a fantasy of a gift. I’m the youngest of my siblings and I had this fantasy: ‘I want all my family to come together and that everything would be okay’. But this film is mostly my journey towards my family and towards my mother. And for sure, it was already a gift to myself and, I hope, a gift for them also”.

A gesture of love

In the documentary, the director films her parents and sisters, including some family footage. What was their reaction when she told them she was planning to make “(Y)our Mother”? “A lot of people ask me that question because I come from a very conservative family, especially my mother. And so a lot of people are like: ‘How did you convince her to do this film?’”, says Samira El Mouzghibati. “Actually I didn’t really have to convince anyone because I think they understood before me that I needed to do this film. And there is really a gesture of love from them towards me, accepting to do this film with me. And some of them said that maybe it was also something useful for them to talk, to try to gather, to film and to tell our story. Because there is also a common story”.

Similar themes for different movies

Many of the films in the Meridiana section of the Bif&st deal with themes such as heritage, identity, roots. How do you explain that so many directors from different parts of the world felt the need to talk about similar themes? “I think our world today is like that. We are very much mixed up and our identities are always moving, always reshaping itself. And it brings a lot of joy and richness with it, but also a lot of complexities, a lot of pain, a lot of loss. And I think as humans, we need to deal with those questions because these are very actual questions”.

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