House in the Fields

Over many years, filmmaker Tala Hadid returned to an Amazigh community in Morocco’s High Atlas, where she eventually made House in the Fields, her first documentary. The film is an audiovisual counterpart to the improvised songs in which young and old in this community sing of lives that have largely followed the same patterns for generations – though of course with variations, as is evident from a love song in which the mobile phone plays an important role.

Hadid, who shot and edited the film herself, presents this way of life in loosely connected impressions: images of the idyllic landscape, of the agricultural and domestic work that fills the days, of hands and faces. The surrounding environment is also vividly present on the soundtrack.

At the heart of the film is the Elgounad family, and in particular the teenage sisters Fatima and Khadija. Fatima’s impending marriage, which she awaits with both fear and expectancy, marks the end of their shared childhood. As the film follows the rhythm of the seasons – the last they will spend together – the sisters contemplate their future.