Laurent Garnier Rock The Casbah Interview

Laurent Garnier Rock The Casbah Interview

Cast: Nardine Labaki, Morjana Alaoui, Lubna Azabai, Hiam Abbass, Omar Sharif
Director: Laila Marrakchi
Rated: M
Running Time: 98 Minutes

Synopsis: Summer in Tangiers, Morocco. A family reunite for three days in their home following the death of their patriarch, the influential businessman Moulay Hassan (film legend Omar Sharif), to share their memories and to grieve for his loss according to Muslim tradition. They have left the beach behind and swapped swimsuits for djellabas as everyone gathers in a show of mourning.

However, sparks start to fly when prodigal daughter Sofia jets in from New York after several years away. The youngest, she has made a new life for herself as an actress in America, but frustratingly, only ever gets television roles as a terrorist. Her return provides the opportunity to settle some scores with her sisters, as the order once maintained by Moulay breaks down.

Between laughter and tears, a collective hysteria leads each of the women to confront some home truths that have boiled beneath the surface for years.

Rock The Casbah
Release Date: November 20th, 2014

Interview with Laurent Garnier

Question: Why did you agree to collaborate on Rock The Casbah?

Laurent Garnier: Because I liked MAROCK. Laïla Marrakchi and I met up, and I was won over by her personality. She's a fascinating artist who has a lot to say and who wants to tell different stories. Laïla doesn't make facile cinema. MAROCK portrayed Moroccan gilded youth in all its excesses, and it wasn't an easy subject to tackle. I liked the way she had the courage to break down the clichés.

Question: What was she looking for from you?

Laurent Garnier: To find some musical numbers which fit with a few important scenes in the film. In parallel, Laïla also had some songs in mind for certain key scenes, like the one by Anthony & The Johnsons which works brilliantly. For the credits, I dug up the original soundtrack to a 1942 film: ROAD TO MOROCCO directed by David Butler, starring Bing Crosby and Anthony Quinn. It's a great swing number, stuffed with clichés about Morocco being thick with thieves!


Question: How did you go about selecting certain songs which appear in the film?

Laurent Garnier: Laïla first gave me the script, then she described in detail the scenes she was going to shoot. Then, I started on an initial selection of around 180 titles drawn from the digital library of my online radio, www.pedrobroadcast.com. (©Rights reserved) Then I extended my research to my vinyl collection and the Internet, with Spotify, etc. Each title I suggested to Laïla was accompanied by a file which described its genre, its history, and the reasons why I thought it was interesting. Then Laïla sent me some sequences of Rock The Casbah, so I could see a rough cut of the film. During these phases, I was able to further refine my selection until I had a number of songs, all of which could be suitable to the different scenes in the film.


Question: Did you leave the final choice to Laïla?

Laurent Garnier: Of course. When I work on a project like this, I am completely at the service of the director. And whenever I take part in an artistic adventure, I am fully involved! From the start, it was clear that it was up to Laïla to choose what she thought was best for her film.

Rock The Casbah
Release Date: November 20th, 2014