Hicham Lasri Says ‘Thank You Satan’ Is Being Judged Before Anyone Has Seen It

Fez — Moroccan filmmaker Hicham Lasri is pushing back against a complaint targeting his new feature “Thank You Satan,” arguing that the film is being attacked before the public has even had the chance to see it.

In remarks to Morocco World News (MWN), Lasri said the complaint came after an association with the name of “Le Printemps du Cinéma” viewed only the trailer he posted online weeks ago, not the film itself. “I want people to see the film first. From there, we can discuss it,” he said, stressing that the accusations do not rest on the actual content of the work.

For Lasri, the controversy is more than a dispute over one title. It reflects what he sees as a recurring impulse to police artistic expression before it can speak for itself. 

He described the situation as “absurd” and “Kafkaesque,” especially because the film itself revolves around the logic of condemnation without understanding. “My film speaks precisely of someone who is going to have a fatwa dropped on his head because he wrote a book and no one has read it, but everyone wants to kill him,” Lasri said, calling the overlap between fiction and reality deeply ironic.

The director also emphasized that “Thank You Satan,” whose Arabic title is “المطرود من رحمة الله” (“The expelled from God’s mercy”), is not an outsider provocation but a Moroccan film through and through. 

He told MWN the project received an exploitation visa from the Moroccan Cinematographic Center and was backed by Moroccan institutions, including SNRT, alongside other partners. “It is a 100% Moroccan film in every way,” he said, even if it is performed in French.

Lasri said that choice of language was deliberate. He explained that the film seeks to shift the perspective on radicalization, Islamization, and religious fundamentalism by offering what he described as a Moroccan, Arab, and Muslim point of view on how the West portrays such violence in public discourse and media.

‘I refuse to be censored’

Lasri described the complaint as part of a much longer struggle that has followed his filmmaking career. “I refuse to be censored,” he told MWN, describing the dispute as only the latest in a series of battles over work some people have wanted softened, cut down, or stripped of its sharper edges. He said that throughout his career, his answer to such demands has remained unchanged: no.

For him, the issue is not simply personal. Lasri argued that allowing this kind of intimidation to gain ground would send a dangerous message to younger filmmakers just beginning to test their voice. He said he does not want emerging directors to believe that someone will always be waiting to block “the purity of their ideas” or the force of what they are trying to express.

He also drew a firm line between censorship and classification. “What is great in Morocco is that we do not have censorship. We have classification,” Lasri said, arguing that adults should be trusted to choose what they watch and think for themselves. 

Lasri’s frustration sharpened further when he spoke about legitimacy. After spending 10 years working on the film, he questioned how outside voices could so easily move to denounce it without engaging with it seriously. “Who enabled him, who gave him the power, what legitimacy does he speak of?” Lasri asked, turning the spotlight back on those seeking to police the boundaries of artistic expression.

Hassan II, bad faith, and a broader cultural fight

Lasri also suggested the controversy reflects something bigger than one complaint or one trailer. He said Morocco is in an electoral year, with some people eager to seize the “beautiful role” of moral guardian by riding the wave of a provocative film. 

At one point, Lasri invoked a line he said he admires from Hassan II: “We cannot advance arguments of good faith against people of bad faith.” The quote captured the tone of his response. 

He also defended provocation itself as a legitimate function of art. 

Lasri said he values films that create debate, force reflection, and even anger people. In his telling, that tension is healthier than a cinematic landscape dominated by formula, conformity, and empty entertainment.