Book Week docu: Once Upon a Time in Tangier

Mohammed & Paul: Once Upon a Time in Tangier is an unorthodox portrait of Mohammed Mrabet, the only author who cannot read or write, and his special friendship with writer Paul Bowles. The documentary paints a critical picture of the American artist colony in Tangier and explores the borderland between the imaginary and the real.

Growing up in the Netherlands as a child of Moroccan parents, director Nordin Lasfar was inspired by writer Paul Bowles, who introduced him to the literature and stories of Morocco. In the 1960s and 1970s, Tangier was a lively haven for Western artists and writers of the beat generation. At the centre of this artistic landscape was Mohammed Mrabet, a young fisherman's son and master storyteller from the Moroccan oral tradition. His stories gained worldwide fame when Bowles wrote them down, leading to a close but complex friendship between the two men, formed at a time of artistic freedom, social inequality and hidden taboos.

Now, in old age, Mrabet looks back on those years and his unique way of telling stories. Lasfar follows him through archive footage, interviews and atmospheric street scenes of Tangier, exploring the balance between Mrabet's voice and that of the writer. At the same time, the film asks a fundamental question: who owns when it is only heard through someone else's voice?

Directed by Nordin Lasfar

Production country: the Netherlands
English spoken, Dutch subtitled
documentary, 93 min, 2025
12+