Backstage: Liberating mind and body in Morocco's Atlas forest

The opening scene of Backstage is a nearly ten-minute-long dance performance during which not only is the plot’s intrigue immediately introduced, but the relationships between some characters are already nuanced.

The trouble is that at this early stage, without being familiarized with the context of the film, the viewer is unlikely to spot certain details and will instead perceive the sequence simply as a beautifully orchestrated overture.

Only the key narrative twist cannot be missed: the protagonist dancer Aïda (Afef Ben Mahmoud herself), via looks and movements, provokes her work and life partner Hedi (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui), who becomes infuriated and injures her. Regardless of the incident, Aïda dances her assigned choreography to the end, to the astonishment and admiration of the others.

"The overall feeling left by the film is that instead of discussing pressing issues in depth, it uses auto-imported ready-made templates that once again portray the Maghreb as a mystic and exotic place with a backward mentality, without really delving into its essence"

However, the performance’s immediate future is in question. Everything turns upside down for the troupe, who are due to perform in Marrakesh the following evening and face a midnight crossing of the Atlas Mountains by bus.

This turbulent situation unlocks long-hidden passions and fears, unconscious longings, and unshared thoughts to be revealed – some are said out loud, but most are expressed through glances, bodily fluctuations, and choreography. And to lead the characters to a cathartic collective experience, even as each comes to individual revelations.

Backstage, a multi-national co-production between Morocco, Tunisia, France, Qatar, Belgium, and Norway, was just presented at the Giornati degli Autori section of the 80th Venice Film Festival and received the Cinema & Arts Award given by the Associazione Kalambur Teatro in collaboration with Ateatro and Electrotheatre Stanislavsky – a logical gesture given the fact that conceptually and aesthetically the film positions itself between cinema and the performing arts.

Aïda and Hedi’s conflict eventually throws open concealed emotions cultivated within and between other characters. As the troupe’s private minibus departs in the night, heading to Marrakesh but also in search of a doctor for Aïda’s aching hip, suddenly two tires burst simultaneously in the middle of the Atlas Forest, meaning the driver is forced to dump the passengers in the woods and go in search of help.

Left alone with their thoughts and worries amidst the dark and the wild, the artists seem to enter into a process of self-initiation; traumas and hidden desires rise to the surface; fatigue in the wee small hours evokes groans from the soul and visions before the eyes.

The performance’s director Nawel (Sondos Belhassen) – a perfectionist in her profession, but deeply wounded inside due to uncertainty over the fate of her husband, who has disappeared in Syria – fantasizes about speaking with his ghost (Saleh Bakri). Indomitable Sondos (Hajiba Fahmy) conveys her reluctance to marry her boyfriend Iliyes (Ali Thabet) as she is afraid to disfigure her body with pregnancy and insists on remaining free in order to fully devote herself to her art.

Seif (Nassim Baddag) takes a break from the collective and disappears, causing alarm in his colleagues before he returns refreshed and sees the group dynamic with new eyes. Their half-awake and semi-conscious state is depicted through elegantly outlined episodes of dance performances through the trees that, in combination with the frivolous narration, are supposed to take us on a meditative journey in the mystic forest.

But, as much as one is keen to soar on the wings of their dreams and connect to their innermost desires, the only thing one can assuredly manage to share with the characters is drowsiness.

Although built upon the pulse of dance, sound, and harmonious motion, what is highly problematic in Backstage is precisely the rhythm - the cinematic one.

After a sharp beginning with an immediate leap into the deep, the directors open the faucet of time and allow it to flow undisturbed, bringing the on-screen action and the viewer to a state of weightlessness.

In between the rationally scripted beginning and concluding parts that together form an orderly framework, the middle stretches out in humdrum fashion, the monotony of which cannot be offset by either the enchanting natural scenery or the ethereal dances, much less the dialogue that touches on significant themes but does not deepen them.

Furthermore, conceived by Tunisian and Moroccan directors, and made in co-production with various European countries, one senses that certain topic boxes should have been ticked at the time of choosing controversial matters to be discussed in the supposedly conservative Arab environment.

In her director’s note Mahmoud, who is an actress and dancer herself (this is her first directorial attempt), states that she wanted to tackle some sensitive subjects of the prohibitions and taboos endemic in the Arab world, such as female sexuality and bodily functions, widely perceived as dictated by a biological clock and restricted to following the “natural order” of giving birth.

However, authentic evidence of this intention can hardly be found in Backstage, since the issue is only vaguely hinted at through Sondos, a relatively minor character. Aïda’s unconstrained behaviour is also superficially expressed through her verbal aggression towards Hedi, who is labelled macho by default rather than have this image of him firmly established.

In this regard, the overall feeling left by the film is that instead of discussing pressing issues in depth, it uses auto-imported ready-made templates that once again portray the Maghreb as a mystic and exotic place with a backward mentality, without really delving into its essence.

Mariana Hristova is a freelance film critic, cultural journalist, and programmer. She contributes to national and international outlets and has curated programs for Filmoteca De Catalunya, Arxiu Xcèntric, goEast Wiesbaden, etc. Her professional interests include cinema from the European peripheries and archival and amateur films