13-19 January
2025
When a job goes terribly wrong, a father and son fight for survival through a ceaseless night in Casablanca's dark alleys. Hounds is a harrowing odyssey that plunges the viewer into a labyrinth of superstition and decay, brutally blurring the lines between right and wrong.
In the shadows of Casablanca’s suburbs, we follow father and son Hassan (Abdellatif Masstouri) and Issam (Ayoub Elaid). Their latest task for the local mafia—to kidnap a man—launches them on a journey through the barren urban wilderness, brimming with shady characters and threatening predicaments. As they race against sunrise, both their future and relationship are tested. Brace yourself for a grim odyssey through narrow alleys filled with paranoia and apparitions, captured with a gaze that balances the line between the beautiful and the grotesque.
Hounds is a misanthropic and claustrophobic drama that brings you face to face with human desperation, not for the faint-hearted. With its powerful performances and brutal dialogues, the film won Un certain regard at Cannes in 2023 and Best Screenplay at the Stockholm Film Festival. Addressing themes of decay, transience, and poverty, the film probes the relationship between father and son in a work that will twist your gut.
Kamal Lazraq, born in 1984 in Casablanca, Morocco, is known as a filmmaker who boldly examines the dark and brutal. He has previously written and directed two short films. Hounds marks Kamal Lazraq's first feature film.
2014 The Man with a Dog (short)
2011 Drari (short)
Kl 19:00
Kulturhuset
Kl 21:45
Fokus 1
Kl 09:00
Available for 48 hours
TIFF Digital
Kl 09:30
Fokus 1
Programme: | Horizons, TIFF Digital |
Original title: | Les meutes |
Director: | Kamal Lazraq |
Country: | Morocco, France, Belgium, Qatar, Saudi Arabia |
Year: | 2023 |
Run time: | 1h 34m |
Screenplay: | Kamal Lazraq |
Cast: | Ayoub Elaid, Abdellatif Masstouri, Mohamed Hmimsa |
Dialogue: | Berber, French |
Subtitles: | English |