Grand Voyage, Le
Dir: Ismaël Ferroukhi France / Morocco 2004 108 mins PG
Starring: Nicolas Cazalé, Mohamed Majd, Malika Mesrar El Hadaoui, Jacky Nercessian, Ghina Ognianova
Out of filial duty and a sense of adventure, Reda, a young French man, agrees to accompany his Moroccan father on the hajj - the pilgrimage to Mecca. The only catch: the journey from France to Saudi Arabia will be by car. Along the way the two will cross national borders, seas, even continents, but no distance is greater than the one they cross to come to terms with each other.
Director Ismaël
Ferroukhi (who co-wrote Cédric Kahn’s Trop de Bonheur) deftly handles the
cultural and generational collisions, as the journey becomes a process of
continuing self-discovery. The filmmakers received rare permission to shoot the
final scenes in Mecca and the images they capture are truly amazing. New
Directors / New Films, 2005
Writer-director Ismaël Ferroukhi proves his accomplished storytelling skill with
Le Grand Voyage. A road movie with a difference, the film features one of
Moroccan cinema's most accomplished veteran actors as well as a promising young
talent, Nicolas Cazalé.
Ismaël Ferroukhi was born in Kenitra, Morocco. After directing his first short film, L'Exposé, in 1992, he co-wrote the script for Cédric Kahn's feature film Trop de Bonheur (94). In 1995, he wrote and directed the short film L'Inconnu, which was part of the triptych "Court-toujours" produced for Canal Plus/Arte. He has also directed two films for television, Akim (97) and Petit Ben (98).