by Caroline Link
They are father and son – and they are strangers. 17-year-old Ben travels to Marrakech during the summer holidays in order to spend some time with his father Heinrich. The celebrated director is staging his latest play in the Moroccan city – and spends most of his time enjoying cocktails beside the hotel’s pool. Not exactly the pastime Ben had in mind. Disgusted by the superficiality of his father, the teenager decides to go his own way. Finally throwing his European caution to the wind, Ben meets a young dancer named Karima in a nightclub, and accompanies his new love to her remote hometown. Caroline Link’s new film is a declaration of love to the Arabic world, with its smells, music, colours and moods.