Feature Narrative Film
TOTAL BUDGET
US $826,228
CONFIRMED FINANCING
US $565,586
CONTACT
lamia@laprod.ma
+212661233993
Ten-year-old Mica lives in a slum on the outskirts of Meknes. A friend of his parents', a handyman in a tennis club in Casablanca, takes him as his apprentice. Mica discovers a whole new world where a new life awaits him.
Ten-year old Mica lives with his sick mother and father in a slum in the suburbs of Meknes, which is destined for destruction. A friend of his parents', a handyman in a tennis club in Casablanca, takes him as his apprentice and plays a big role in his life as his mentor and his only father figure. Mica finds himself propelled into a whole new world which he knows nothing about, where a new life awaits him.
Mr. Slimani, a rich and sophisticated man and the owner of the club, dreams of making his son Omar a tennis champion. To this end, he hires Sophia, a former tennis champion, as a private trainer. But Omar has little talent and no passion for the sport. Mr. Slimani reprimands his son for every one of his successive failures. On the other hand, Sophia will eventually notice Mica's potential, and decide to take him under her wing.
Affected by the brutality of the social inequalities in Morocco, where I am originally from, I became interested in the fate of the youth whose only dream is to escape to Europe.
Mica traces the journey of a poor child who wants to improve his situation in a society where inequality is the common law. He is torn from his family in the countryside to work in a tennis club, facing a world he knows nothing about. He will have to deal with repeated humiliation and oppression, but thanks to two key encounters, he will realize that he can change his own destiny.
By sketching the portrait of a young, courageous and endearing character, I wish to make a positive and poetic film, whilst it’s still grounded in reality. Mica will be a success story, because despite its difficulties, Morocco is a country that is progressing. I want to show that one can dream of a better life without fleeing the country.
Although it is clear that the stakes for Mica are far greater than that of sports, it is thanks to tennis that Mica will be able to change his life, thus showing how sports can be a means of social advancement in today's world. With Mica, I want to make a universal film, aimed at an audience of all ages. It is a story about apprenticeship; full of hope, solidarity and humanity, which all seem essential in the modern world. This is why this project is particularly dear to me.
When Ismaël came to propose Mica to us, we didn’t hesitate for a minute to go at it. We loved Free Men and were very impressed by The Great Journey—another coming-ofage story in which, with a great economy of means, he managed to highlight all the complexity of the relationship between a father and a son, apparently belonging to the same culture, but actually living in two worlds where everything opposes each other.
Ismaël Ferroukhi showed us in this film that he knew how to pierce souls, to explore the intimacy of his characters. There is, in his way of filming, a lot of space for silences, looks, and it is through them that he makes emotions emerge. Mica is also an initiatory story—that of a young boy who is condemned by everything and who will get out of misery and succeed; thanks to his sensitivity, his curiosity, his desire to help his family, and also thanks to a helping hand. A simple and moving story, which shows the strength of will and determination.
2019: Urgent, Achoura
2018: Stateless, Jahilya, Yesterday, Ima Malka
2016: Mimosas, Section 35
2015: The Sky Trembles and the Earth Is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers
2012: The Sea Is Behind, A Film, The Rif Lover
2011: The End
2009: Angels’ Terminal