arab filmweek - fiction and documentary films of the Arab world

Khamsa
Director: Karim Dridi
France 2008 feature film 100 min
 
Since his mother abandoned him – after an incident, in which his little brother had nearly lost his life – eleven year old Marco has lived in a nursing-home. Not being happy there, Marco runs away seeking hideout in a gypsy camp near Marseille. Because his mother refuses any contact and his father is too busy with women and booze, Marco feels impelled to stay at the camp. Soon he realises that there is no future for him if he stays – his escape becomes more and more a dead end.
Director Karin Dridi, born 1961 in Tunis, dedicates his movies to the underdogs. To write the screenplay, Dridi lived in one of Marseille's gypsy camps for a while, carefully watching the speech and slang of the youngsters living there. The movie is shot on location at the original camp, with laypersons as actors.