LEARNING FROM THE SCHOOL OF HOPE @HOT DOCS 2021

If you think your situation is difficult during this pandemic then maybe we here on FERNTV suggest watching a documentary that will humble you. School of Hope is set to make its premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival in Toronto. Director Mohamed El Aboudi’s film focuses on the Morrocan Oulad Boukais tribe. Their landscape takes the audience to a place they have not seen or been before. It’s difficult to document a nomadic tribe that lives in the deserts of open space in Morrocco. It’s even more difficult when this tribe that leaves the lightest carbon footprint has a perennial struggle with climate change.

The Oulad Boukais tribe’s main challenge is to get water. Climate change has not been nice to this tribe. Consequently, their livestock and sources of water have been depleted over time. They must pick and go when the well runs dry. It’s difficult to manage a family over time by doing that. The Oulad Boukais have no choice but to move so far that other points of human contact are a trek.

The School of Hope

The film follows Mohamed who builds a makeshift school in the middle of nowhere. He does not have much to work with as their only several desks and chairs that he provides his students. Mohamed does make due as he gains a full class where the ages of the children vary. He must take into account their learning levels and that they all have obstacles to overcome. To even get to the school is a journey where they must walk almost 12km to get to their class.

Some of the parents do not even think it is worth it for their children to even go. They believe that real opportunities will not exist for them at the end of it all. The parents believe that they should just stay with them at home and help them raise the livestock. On the other hand, Mohamed fights for their education believing that they will have more opportunities when they grow older. He gives his students hope for the future. This begins by learning basic skills that every child has the right to have.

Living and Filming Nomadically

It is a real challenge for Mohamed who must go above beyond the call of duty of a normal teacher. The audience must keep in mind that he too is living nomadically with no electricity and water. He does talk to the parents persuading them to keep their children at school. This is far from the normal parent-teacher interview because he visits the family at their home on his own time. He’s mindful these children are poor who do not have the clothing, food or water that would sustain their learning. It does get cold in the winter and there is absolutely no heat in the school. They all must find alternative ways to keep warm. Mohamed gives it his all to keep the dream alive.

School of Hope is shocking because it portrays how unfortunate some people are in other corners of the Earth. The Oulad Boukais is on the brunt of climate change which makes it that much more difficult to fathom. We all don’t realize the consequences of our actions which affect others across the globe. To express this narrative in this film is challenging and downright exhausting yet rewarding to the human spirit.

Director Mohamed El Aboudi goes beyond the call of duty to bring you this story of this nomadic tribe. He spent several years studying them and their landscape to effectively bring this documentary School of Hope to you. There is absolutely no way that this film could have been shot on a whim. Blood, sweat and tears were the sacrifices that had to be made in order for this film to exist.

Director Mohamed El Aboudi had to struggle for a basic need like water when shooting. It’s a testament to how thirsty he was to bring School of Hope to audiences around the globe. It’s a film that can bring a turning point for humanity to stay humble especially during these difficult times.

Watch our video below as we interview director Mohamed El Aboudi who discusses the process of filming School of Hope.

Watch Spirit to Soar now at Hot Docs by clicking this link