Development Feature Documentary Film Projects
Jump the wall (My Hero)
Morocco, Sweden / Italian, Arabic, French, English / 90 minutes
Director: Zineddaine Mohamed
Producer: William Johansson
Synopsis:
An old friend contacts me: he has found a box full of VHS tapes, at the bottom of a garbage can, in Bologna, Italy. It contains scenes from my first film, “The Old Dancer” (a documentary about the journey of a radio station in 1996) as well as images of the making of my first feature film, “Awakening/1998”. I am deeply moved by this event. I suddenly realize the importance of putting my archives in order: I have been a filmmaker for twenty-five years; I am Moroccan living in Italy. Working tirelessly on my past, and still finding out wonders… COVID-19 global pandemic takes me by surprise during a trip to Morocco where I must remain confined.
However, a burning feeling continues to rise in me: I feel the need to find the tracks of the actors of my films who decided one day, just like me, to “jump the wall” and to leave their country of origin.
Director:
Zineddaine Mohamed
Mohamed Zineddaine is born in the small village of Oued-Zem which was called “Le Petit Paris” by French colons. Free but difficult child, a pupil mediocre, Mohamed Zineddaine once confesses to a journalist:
“The most pleasant times at school, where when the keeper ranks the bells announcing the end of the race or breaks time. For me, he was the most respectful of all”. Doomed to failure in his scientific studies, he was conducted to literary works by a secret hand, where he devotes himself to be a great reader. In 1983, Mohamed Zineddaine left Morocco, his native country, to follow up courses in computer studies in the city of Nice in France at the University of CHATEAU. Quickly he realized that he was not in his shoes in this type of study, and moved on to Italy where he took great experiences in life doing several jobs. After living several months in Florence, Naples, Perrugia, and Rome, Mohamed Zineddaine settled definitively in Bologna in 1985 where he started his director training. Reporter, photographer, screenwriter and producer, Mohamed Zineddaine directed short films, documentaries, and produced his first feature film “Awakening” in 2005.
Producer:
William Johansson
Johansson has been a director, DOP, and film editor in 2006. He started working as a film producer in 2015 when he also became a shareholder of Laika Film & Television AB, Sweden. William has been working with a number of documentaries and documentary series.