The Damned Don't Cry Les Damnés ne pleurent pas
by Fyzal Boulifa
Venice Days 2022 · French Premiere
In Competition 2022
Official synopsis
Moving from place to place, Selim and his mother Fatima-Zahra, have a fusional relationship that lingers on the edge of abnormal and is pushed to an extreme by poverty and survival. Seeking legitimacy in a country caught between tradition and modernity, they will each face hardships that will slowly lead them apart.
The programmer’s eye
With this wildly intense second feature film, Fyzal Boulifa explores the power of the mother-son relationship in a realistic and sincere way. Haunted by her past and overtaken by her present, Fatima-Zahra finds herself forced to submit to a patriarchal society that is still very entrenched, while her son Selim, tormented by violent feelings, ends up taking a path that is contrary to his values. Through these intimate slices of life, Fyzal Boulifa bears witness to the evolution of damned destinies within a Moroccan society caught between taboos and the desire for profound change.
Claire Lim
Biography and Filmography
Fyzal Boulifa is a writer-director based between Paris, London and Tangier. He learned cinema out of watching and shooting as many films as he could. His short films have been awarded twice at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and nominated at the BAFTAs. In 2019, he directed his first feature, “Lynn+Lucy” (2019), which premiered in San Sebastián and won multiple awards (Macao, Marrakech, Les Arcs, Vilnius…). Shot in Morocco, “The Damned Don’t Cry” (2022) is his second feature.
FYZAL BOULIFA
2022 : THE DAMNED DON’T CRY - Fyzal Boulifa - Director
2019 : LYNN + LUCY - Fyzal Boulifa - Director and Screenwriter
2015 : RATE ME (SHORT) - Fyzal Boulifa - Director and Screenwriter
2012 : THE CURSE (SHORT) - Fyzal Boulifa - Director and Screenwriter
Fyzal Boulifa
Aïcha Tebbae, Abdellah El Hajjouji, Antoine Reinartz...
Vixens, Frakas Productions, Casbah Films, BBC Films
New Story
Charades
Nadah El Shazly
by Fyzal Boulifa
Fyzal Boulifa is a writer-director based between Paris, London and Tangier. He learned cinema out of watching and shooting as many films as he could. His short films have been awarded twice at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight and nominated at the BAFTAs. In 2019, he directed his first feature, “Lynn+Lucy” (2019), which premiered in San Sebastián and won multiple awards (Macao, Marrakech, Les Arcs, Vilnius…). Shot in Morocco, “The Damned Don’t Cry” (2022) is his second feature.
FYZAL BOULIFA
2022 : THE DAMNED DON’T CRY - Fyzal Boulifa - Director
2019 : LYNN + LUCY - Fyzal Boulifa - Director and Screenwriter
2015 : RATE ME (SHORT) - Fyzal Boulifa - Director and Screenwriter
2012 : THE CURSE (SHORT) - Fyzal Boulifa - Director and Screenwriter