Mustapha Derkaoui

Mostafa Derkaoui (; 1944 - ) is a Moroccan film director and screenwriter who has made revolutionary and socially-engaged films. Biography Derkaoui was born in Oujda, Morocco in 1944. In the early 1960s, Derkaoui studied philosophy in Casablanca and wrote plays. One of his first plays was banned for political reasons. For 8 months in 1963, he studied at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques in Paris. After returning to Morocco for a short period of time, Derkaoui made his first short film "The Four Walls" which is now lost. After studying Polish for a year, he attended the Łódź Film School. He was influenced by Jean Mitry and Georges Sadoul. Early career During his time at the Łódź Film School, Derkaoui directed four short films of different genres. He also wrote a thesis titled “The role of cinema in transforming and elevating consciousness”. During his studies, Derkaoui remained politically active and engaged in student life, supporting the struggles for democracy and human rights in Morocco. In one of his student films "People from the Cellar", Derkaoui filmed debates at the Estates General of Cinema in Paris, and while most of the footage has been lost, a rare extract has remained.