In Morocco, as in all Muslim countries, sex outside marriage is illegal. Single mothers are despised, but what is the fate of their children? They are outcasts, condemned to a life of discrimination. Bastards is the first film to tell this story from a mother’s point of view. We follow Rabha El Haimer through the courts to legalize her forced marriage, to register her daughter and to make the father accept his child. We witness extraordinary scenes… the courtroom claims of her child’s father, verbal abuse from her child’s grandfather, Rabha’s confrontation with her mother asking why she married her off so young, and … finally her triumph in the courts.
Director Deborah Perkin believes she is the first Westerner to film in the Moroccan family courts. She captures real life courtroom drama, played out in the first Muslim country in the world to recognize that single mothers and illegitimate children have human rights.
Welsh writer/director/producer: Deborah Perkin
Supported by Ffilm Cymru Wales
Director/Producer/Cinematographer: Deborah Perkin
Executive Producer: Peter Grimsdale, Angela Holdsworth
Hyd y ffilm: 83 minutes
Tystysgrif: 12
Dyddiad: 11th July 2014
VOD: Available now on iTunes (Rent £3.49 / Buy £4.99)
“An intimate and moving portrait of poor single mothers in Morocco” – The Independent
Contact: Deborah Perkin Media contact
Bastards was screened for exhibitors at one of our Welsh Film Preview Days.