Across the Sea

La mer au loin

Director: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
Country: Morocco, France, Belgium

German Premiere
2024 | 117 min. | French, Arabic
Subtitles: German, English
FSK | Nicht geprüft / No clearance

Cast_ Ayoub Gretaa, Anna Mouglalis, Grégoire Colin, Omar Boulakirba, Rym Foglia Screenplay_ Saïd Hamich Benlarbi Camera_ Tom Harari Producer_ Sophie Penson, Joseph Rouschop, Saïd Hamich Benlarbi Rights_ Indie Sales

A moving immigrant story about friendship, love, and the difficult path involved in leaving one life behind and embarking on a new one. Epic, emotional, and brimming with quiet humanity.

The early 1990s. 27-year-old Nour is from Morocco and lives in France as an illegal immigrant. Together with a few friends, he ekes out a living as a petty criminal. Though they are faced with many hardships, they don’t let it get them down and enjoy a life full of drunkenness and parties. The inevitable happens and one day the friends are arrested by the police. But Nour receives help from somewhere wholly unexpected and is thus granted a second chance.

›Across the Sea‹ follows its protagonist over a decade, painting a picture of an entire era. The film tells an incredibly multifaceted story of love and passion in all their forms, as well as of the immense personal burden of migration. For Nour, it even becomes an existential threat. In the end, however, we are left with the hope that love can save him. A movie of great humanity.

Director

Saïd Hamich Benlarbi is a graduate of the famous Parisian film school La Femis. As the producer of numerous French-Moroccan films, he has already been represented at many international festivals. His directorial debut ›Retour à Bollène‹ is the recipient of numerous awards. ›Across the Sea‹ is his second feature.

Trailer

Screenings