Fez — The French Institute of Casablanca is set to host a screening of “Réminiscences 1” on Wednesday, March 25, offering audiences an intimate look at the life and work of renowned Moroccan artist Abdelkebir Rabi’.
The event will take place at 6:30 pm at Théâtre 121 and will be held in the presence of both director Hamid Zerouali and Rabi’ himself. Admission is free, subject to available seating.
Rather than presenting a conventional documentary, the film appears to favor a more meditative approach.
Official event material describes the work as an incursion into the intimate universe of Abdelkebir Rabi’, one of Morocco’s major painters. That framing places memory, reflection, and artistic sensibility at the center of the cinematic experience.
A portrait shaped by memory
The screening highlights more than an artist’s biography. It opens a space to consider how memory informs creation, particularly in the case of a painter whose visual language has long moved between figuration and abstraction.
Recent cultural coverage of the film describes Rabi’s work as deeply marked by shadow, light, and a contemplative use of black, whether through charcoal or Chinese ink.
That sensibility also appears in earlier reporting on Zerouali’s documentary project, which noted the importance of Boulemane, Rabi’s native region, in shaping the artist’s imagination.
The mountainous landscape of the Middle Atlas is presented as more than a backdrop. It becomes part of the emotional and visual memory that runs through the painter’s work.
In that sense, “Réminiscences 1” seems less interested in explaining painting through method than in tracing the elusive inner movement behind it.
The film’s premise suggests a quiet encounter with doubt, intuition, and spiritual searching, inviting viewers to experience the artist’s world rather than simply decode it.
That approach could make the screening especially compelling for audiences interested in the intersection of cinema, visual art, and cultural memory.
