Moroccan movie gets best film grand prize at Cologne Mediterranean cinema festival

Moroccan film-maker Nabyl Ayouch's "Ali Zawa" got the best film grand prize at the Mediterranean cinema film of Cologne, held in this German city September 20 through 30.

The movie relates in a highly convincing way the story of a group of homeless kids trying to survive in an uncompromising world.

The jury said in a note that director Nabil Ayouch composed a symphony of silent screams. The forgotten children of the world fight with the means of the meaningless for staying alive and realizing their dreams. The film addresses the complaints of the outcast to the ignorant society. A poem of pictures, full of sensitivity and harshness, keeps the audience in tension and concertation."

The children-- real homeless kids-- experienced warmth and love during the shooting. Without that, this masterpiece could not have been realized, the jury said.

The Movie got more than 30 other awards in other national and international cinema festivals. At the 17th Alexandria International Cinema Festival held in September, Ali Zawa gleaned four prizes.

Films from Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia and Yugoslavia were competing for prizes at the second Cologne festival.