Loin

For three whole days of lost opportunities and great decisions, we follow the adventures of three characters. Serge is a truck driver. He imports rolls of cloth into Morocco and luxury clothes to France. In Tangiers, he meets up with his lover Sarah and his friend Saïd. He agrees to smuggle out hashish in his truck. He must also fight to win back Sarah, who wants to end their relationship. She runs a family hotel, but ever since her mother died, her brother has wanted to take her back to Montreal, where he lives. Sarah isn’t sure she wants to go. Saïd is a son of a landless peasant who dreams of moving to Europe; he looks pretty submissive, but in fact he’s a rebel.We get to see a fresh angle on Europe’s tormenting problem of clandestine immigration from African countries. Breaking with many stereotypes, this film does not just show the longing of poor Moroccans to find work in the north, but also the fascination experienced by a French truck driver for the lands of the south. In addition, the film sketches a portrait of Tangiers as a multiethnic melting pot full of mystery and desire, with colourful characters, such as an unmarried, pregnant friend of Sarah’s, a footloose French filmmaker, and James (Jack Taylor), an ageing, cultivated American, based on the city’s famous longtime resident Paul Bowles, who is the linchpin of a gaggle of young men.