It should be no surprise that director Hind Bensari‘s documentary film We Could Be Heroes took the top jury prize for Best International Documentary during the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto. The film follows the journey of Paralympic Gold Medalist Azzedine Nouiri who fights his own country of the Moroccan government for accessibility and rights and above all pay. As he prepares for the Rio Games in 2016, he takes other paralympic athletes such as Youssef under his wing despite their country’s lack of equipment and facility accessibility and above all support. The bond that these two form over the course of the film is so heart warming that their courageous efforts to go beyond the limits of their mental and physical capabilities is above inspiring and humbling. We Could Be Heroes is a documentary that portrays what real friendship is all about and what they are built on. FERNTV spoke to director Hind Bensari during Hot Docs about making We Could Be Heroes before receiving the award.
FERNTV: What inspired you to make this film “We Could Be Heroes”?
Hind: I was first inspired by Azzedine’s incredible achievement to get the gold medal and break the world record at the London 2012 Games despite lacking the means and infrastructure that his rivals had. But when I met Azzedine and I found out about his struggle for equal rights and that he took it upon himself to mentor a man less fortunate than he was, I knew I had a special film in the making.
FERNTV: We really enjoyed watching the film here on FERNTV and it felt like we were watching a movie instead of documentary. Can you explain why you did it this way and did not follow the standard documentary format?
Hind: What was most important to me was to convey to the audience both the tenderness that transpires between Azzedine and Youssef and the resilience it takes to rise above humiliation and abuse when you are fighting for basic human rights. This can’t be explained didactically, it needs to be felt. That is why we worked to edit and shoot the film following more of a “fiction film” format.
FERNTV: How do you feel when you are referred to as a controversial filmmaker?
Hind: Am I really controversial?
FERNTV: Was there many expectations that had to be met because of your previous film 475: Break the Silence?
Hind: There is my own expectation to also have a measurable impact with this film. Namely by getting the Moroccan government to recognise the disabled athlete’s right for an income so that they could live decently.
FERNTV: This documentary is also about friendship and being humble. Can you comment on that?
Hind: That is definitely the core of the film. I hope that the audience will be as inspired by their friendship and humility as they are by Azzedine’s struggle for human rights. It also what drew me to my characters in the first place.
FERNTV: What did you learn most about both Azzedine and Youssef after putting this film together?
Hind: I learned a lot about the power of solidarity and resilience from Azzedine and Youssef. Making this film also made me ask myself how I would feel if I was the best in the world at something but received no recognition for it. This is basically Azzedine’s story. He is the world’s best shot putter, a 2 times Gold Medalist but that was not enough for the Moroccan government to treat him half as well as a non-disabled athlete who has never won anything. I keep wondering how being made to feel lesser shapes you as a person. We are always told that life will be amazing if we do what we love and become the best at it. But that is not what happened to Azzedine and yet he still fights with faith, pride and dignity.
What I learned about Youssef is that he may have been most interested by the journey than being a champion. Most of us undertake a project with the end result in mind, Youssef on the other hand was in it for the journey. I think we all have a great deal to learn from that approach.
FERNTV: What is the current status of the film industry in Morocco?
Hind: The documentary film industry is highly discouraged by the authorities and the National Centre for Cinema in Morocco (known as CCM). It is illegal in Morocco to film with a professional camera and sound without an authorization from the Centre of Cinematography. When you file a request for a documentary it takes a minimum of 5 weeks for the authorization to be given to you. On many occasions, we were not given an authorization for no reason. The procedure goes so forth: Once a crew is given the authorisation to shoot, the local authorities are informed and their role is to follow and report on the crew’s movements and whereabouts. Being followed and harassed by local authorities is commonplace in Morocco. They also track the people we film and pay them a visit after each filming session to ask them about who we were and what we shot and why.
Having said that, our national channel TV 2M, has done a lot for documentary film. It has a prime time documentary slot which is performing very well, and is I believe the only channel with Al Jazeera in the Middle East to provide funding for independent documentary film creation.
FERNTV: How does it feel to be part of Hot Docs this year?
Hind: I am really enjoying the journey that this film is taking me on, and being part of Hot Docs official selection and competition is a blessing both for me and my characters who can have their lives changed by this film.
Fernando Fernandez is a graduate of Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto. He became interested in entertainment journalism in the late 2000s writing for online startups. He founded FERNTV in 2009 and focused mainly on the film industry. With over a thousand interviews conducted with all walks of life in film, he is still learning as if every day is day one.
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