Part 4 will be available soon.
Part 4 will be available soon.
The Enigma of Mohammed VI
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Part 4 will be available soon.
Mohammed VI, the king of unfinished reforms
Investigation'The Enigma of Mohammed VI' (3/6). The Moroccan king's coronation in 1999 sparked great hope at home and abroad. After the reign of his father, which was marked by human rights abuses, the young monarch personified change and modernity, at least at the beginning.
At the Marrakech International Film Festival in September 2002, the early fall sun still cast its rays over the ocher city. One year after the September 11 attacks in the United States, and in the midst of US President George W. Bush's War on Terror, Morocco wanted to set an example for a peaceful and festive meeting between East and West, united by cinema and glamour.
The festival, launched a year earlier by the young King Mohammed VI, was chaired by his younger brother, Moulay Rachid. Behind the scenes, French producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier managed logistics, programming and the arrival of celebrities. The allure of La Mamounia, the luxury hotel that hosted the stars, played a major role in the event's success.
On the event's penultimate evening, filmmakers, actors, journalists and all the other big names of the festival were invited to a reception hosted by the king at his palace in the city center. Hundreds of guests sat around low tables, on poufs arranged atop historic, time-worn rugs. Dozens of servants, all Black men dressed in white, brought out and cleared away dishes in a steady back-and-forth rhythm in the torchlit space. The scene was a blend of One Thousand and One Nights and the Middle Ages.
The evening's surprise guest sat on the platform. Seated beside the king, his young wife, Lalla Salma, revealed her distinguished features and red hair to the guests. Murmurs passed through the crowd. It was the first time so many foreigners had laid eyes on the wife of the Alawite sovereign. During the reign of Mohammed VI's father, Hassan II, no one had ever seen Lalla Latifa, the mother of the royal children, except in photographs, where she always appeared in traditional dress.
Youth as a certificate of modernity
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