The Ark of the Desert

"In The Ark of the Desert, the filmmaker speaks out against all forms of intolerance and withdrawal into traditions that lead to violence. The forbidden love between Myriam and Amin is part of a storytelling tradition that employs the many possibilities of this magnificent and disturbing place in the desert. But Mohamed Chouikh, like an experienced storyteller, gives the spectator the time to catch his breath by introducing moments of calm like day to day tasks or celebrations, where humour plays its role and allows the spectator, when it comes, to measure the unspeakable horror" (L. Vigo). "I use metaphor so that people don't immediately think of current issues and identify with the subject in a different way. I draw my narrative and aesthetic resources from spoken culture and popular poetry, where colours are brighter, where a gesture exaggerates the love and hate, and where passion amplifies the drama" (M. Chouikh).