La más dulce

Under southern Spain’s plastic tunnels, the strawberries look too pristine. Laïla Marrakchi’s LA MÁS DULCE reveals what lies behind that perfection: a system exploiting the labour of Moroccan women through low wages and coercion. Rather than reducing them to victims, Marrakchi portrays a fragile solidarity strained by fear, self- interest and competing priorities, as each woman weighs the risks of standing with the others against the demands of her own precarious future. The film unfolds through Hasna, a former taekwondo champion whose determination is driven by the need to survive. Nisrin Erradi brings fierce energy to the role, making her anger, toughness and vulnerability palpable. Hajar Graigaa captures Meriem’s quiet intensity, while Hind Braik and Fatima Attif give the ensemble further shading. Itsaso Arana is compelling as Pilar, the lawyer who joins their fight. The women’s growing sense of entrapment is echoed in the film’s visual language: a restless camera moves along greenhouse rows, turning the landscape into an oppressive maze, while the fixed framings inside the employer’s house creates a chilling contrast. Behind the harvest lies a darker truth: prosperity is built by weary hands. (Maria Giovanna Vagenas)

In the presence of Laïla Marrakchi and Itsaso Arana Baztan.
On the 25th of October a talk with Laïla Marrakchi will take place at the Viennalte Zentrale at Funkhaus Wien.

Laïla Marrakchi (selection): L’HORIZON PERDU (2000, K), FEMMES EN ROYAUME CHÉRIFIEN (2001), DERRIÈRE LES PORTES DU HAMMAM (2001), DEUX CENTS DIRHAMS (2002, K), MOMO MAMBO (2003, K), MA- ROCK (2005), ROCK THE CASBAH (2013)