Morocco bears its soul on celluloid

CASABLANCA, Morocco, Apr 30 (Reuters) Two scruffy boys thump each other in a Casablanca side-street, then tumble to the ground before a man cries out: ''Cut. Cut!'' Nour-Eddine Lakhmari dashes from behind his camera and drags the boys apart as laughter erupts from a crowd of onlookers.

It may be a far cry from the glamorous ''Casablanca'' of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, but Morocco's biggest box-office successes of recent years are all home-grown, as Moroccans flock to see their own lives played out on celluloid.

Lakhmari chose the boys from among thousands of destitute children, who kill time wandering and playing in Casablanca's streets, to act in a film he hopes will depict Morocco with a realism few have ever dared employ.

Casa Negra is the story of two poor but ambitious young friends. One yearns to emigrate to Sweden, the other is in love, hopelessly, with a rich girl.

The main actors have no previous acting experience and were chosen after auditions in the ramshackle suburbs that encircle this sprawling Atlantic coast city.

''I think it's about time we Moroccans are able to tell our stories, not just the stories Europeans want to see from us,'' Lakhmari told Reuters a day after filming began. ''We now have an opportunity to tell the world what we really think.'' Foreigners may be familiar with Morocco because its dramatic southern landscape has served as the backdrop for blockbuster films like ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Gladiator'', ''Alexander'' and ''Troy''.

But most of the country's population of 30 million live in the teeming cities of the north, many in poor neighbourhoods plagued by joblessness and insecurity, fertile ground for tales of frustrated hope, escape, betrayal and revenge.

FORBIDDEN LOVE After the first Moroccan feature film appeared in 1969, two to three followed each year. But more recently, Morocco has been producing about 15 each year.

Last year's hit, ''Marock'', told of forbidden love between an Arab girl and a Jewish boy, both members of Casablanca's nouveau riche. The girl's brother turns to religion after killing a child from a poor suburb while drink-driving.

In ''The Back Streets'', a young woman steals a relative's savings to emigrate to Spain. Her brother steals mobile phones and handbags while their father thinks he's selling oysters.

MORE REUTERS SZ VP0910