‘Say it loud and loud’: music as a symbol of freedom

Nabil Ayouch is undoubtedly one of the great symbols of Moroccan cinema of the current generation. Director born in Paris, he is recognized for being uncomfortable with his parents’ country of origin, with feature films that have managed to establish the cinema of the Maghreb country as one of the most promising, but also as a synonym for criticism and denunciation of a system that turns its back on young people, who ferociously shout the word ‘freedom’, especially on women.

Although, this awards season, Ayouch is present -as screenwriter- with ‘El caftán azul’, a film that entered the shortlist of candidates for the 95th Academy Awards and was masterfully directed by Maryam Touzani, the director’s wife and also one of the great icons of current Moroccan cinema; a year earlier, the director, also signing as director, He was present at the competition with ‘Say it loud and loud’, presented in the Official Selection of the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

“Say it loud and loud,” it seems, has a lighter premise than “Razzia,” “Much Loved,” or “God’s Horses,” Ayouch’s previous works as a director. The film shows how Anas, a former rapper, is hired as a teacher in a cultural center in the Sidi Moumen district, located on the outskirts of Casablanca, to help young people in the area express their dreams., frustrations, ambitions and beliefs through music. Anas, given his discipline, teaches them the origins of rap and hiphop, of urban, of street music, born to channel the fury of inequality, racism and public humiliation.

Of course, the irruption of rap and hiphop will cause friction in the neighborhood, as neither the music nor the culture is regarded by some residents as trapped in archaic religious beliefs. Ayouch also turns rap into a form of women’s liberalization, with girls daring to rap. The film itself says so, either they sing or there is no rap. The director, who also writes the screenplay, exploits the conventions of dramas with a life-changing teacher as the protagonist to highlight the desire to a new generation not to emigrate, to live in full freedom in their own country, to free themselves from the chains of religion, to have a place of full equality for women.

Music as an agent of social change

The message is clear and Ayouch does “Say it loud and loud” in one of his most accessible and most committed films. In a sense, it is the gasp transformed into a luminous film of what ‘Los caballos de Dios’ could not have been, a film that has highlighted how, in fact, some kids from Sidi Mounen were the ringleaders of the terrible attacks terrorists who devastated Casablanca on May 16, 2003, with the Casa de España as the point that caused the most casualties, when 23 people died.

Yes, the way it ends the story does not differ much from ‘Rebellion in the classrooms’ or ‘Dangerous minds’, it could even be connected to ‘The club of dead poets’, ‘The boys of the choir’ or ‘Music of the heart’. However, there is talk of a neighborhood on the outskirts of Casablanca, which in 2003 had its entire population living in shacks and which in 2016 managed to reduce that figure to a quarter, which is developing and which there are young people who want to look to the future in their city, which means that, for example, women are masters of their own destiny.

Ayouch sets it up with rap and hiphop, the power of music to channel frustrations and transform them into a cathartic experience. ‘Say it loud and strong’ also excels with the performances of its non-professional cast. Particularly noteworthy is Anas Basbousilike the former rapper who becomes a mentor of the new generation and who knows how to channel his unfulfilled desires to instill hope in his students. Nouhaila Arif, Samah Baricou or Amina Kannan also stand out, giving voice to those women who fight for their freedom; we also mention Ismail Adouab and Abdelilah Basbousi.

‘Say it loud and loud’ is a wonderful exercise in social drama whose denunciation becomes a real waste of talent, music and dance. A tribute to this urban generation and its fierce cry for freedom through art, which shows its most committed face as a social agent of change. New triumph for Nabil Ayouch.

Note: 8

The best: The organic way in which music becomes an agent of social protest. The fury channeled itself into the rap and hiphop of young people, especially women.

Worse: In reality, its structure is very conventional, it is not very different from other fictions with teachers as protagonists.