A six-week journey to honor the resilient spirit of Moroccan people was captured in the short documentary “Morocco Arise,” a creation of the nomadic filmmaker Brandon Li.
“Morocco was my dream destination for travel filmmaking,” said the creative mind on YouTube, after releasing two versions of the documentary, an almost nine minutes long version called “Morocco Arise”, then a second 11-minute-long version called the director’s commentary.
“A passion project”, said Li then explained how he started planning his trip during the pandemic and came as soon as the borders opened.
He spent six weeks in total over two trips, waltzing between cities and discovering Morocco’s rich cultural heritage.
Brandon Li explained that throughout his travel, his goal was “to weave together the different landscapes and cultures and events to create a film that celebrates the powerful spirit of the people of Morocco.”
What was challenging about his adventure was covering an entire country for the first time, as opposed to his previous films where he covered specific areas of certain countries.
When it comes to his creative process, Li films unscripted and improvised scenes.
Yassine Cavalier, a well-known Moroccan stallion rider known for riding horses bareback, and the Tbourida festival “Fanatsia” of the city of Essaouira was the primary inspirations for Li’s trip to Morocco, which is why the relationship between a man and a horse became a recurring theme in Li’s movie.
Among the things that Li was eager to capture and successfully did so were the Fez Taoura Channery, Jemaa El Fnaa square in Marrakech, and the Zagora desert.
Li had a diversified culinary experience, from trying Couscous to Tagine to Lben.
He advised people who plan on coming to Morocco to film, to always tip performers as a sign of appreciation.
The director filmed some scenes in Ait Benhaddou, where several major Hollywood productions took place.
About his Casablanca trip, Li said that his favorite part was “filming the Hassan II Mosque from the seabed at low tide because the water had receded, I was able to walk further out into the sea and capture a beautiful image of the mosque connecting with the earth.”
Li witnessed Moroccans’ enormous joy after the very successful run that the national team during the Qatar world cup, which prompted him to film endless wholesome reactions and incorporate them into the film.
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