LEILA KILANI, 33, from Morocco, won the second grant for her project “Chroniques des années de plomb”, about the use of torture in her country’s recent past. The jury was impressed with Leila’s determination to break through the wall of silence that surrounds this subject, and the strong characters who will make up the voice of her film

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

From the 1960s to the 1990s, torture was used systematically by the state in Morocco. Several tens of thousand of citizens were persecuted and detained because of their opinions. Widely used, torture was help up as a threat to anyone who might contemplate opposition to the monarchy. It was effective in suppressing virtually all independent political activity. Branded as traitors, real and suspected opponents of the king were detained for years in secret, remote camps. Leila’s film will give voice to some of those who carry the physical and mental scars of “the years of lead”