March 25, 2008

• Foreign Film Series Presents Moroccan film

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Foreign Language Film Series will present the film "Ali Zaoua" 8 p.m. Saturday, April 5, at the UAB Mary Culp Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. S. For more details, call 205-934-4652.

Admission is free to the public. The event is co-sponsored by the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures and is part of Zarda, the 2008 Interdisciplinary Conference sponsored by the UAB Arabic Club. The conference will be held April 5 on the UAB campus.

"Ali Zaoua" is a Moroccan film that finds magical beauty in street children's bleak reality in Casablanca. The film's director is Nabil Ayouch. The film is in Arabic and French with English subtitles. The running time is 98 minutes. "Ali Zaoua" is not rated, but contains adult situations and some violence.

Abandoned by their parents, street kids Ali, Kwita and Boukber become each other's surrogate family while roaming the streets of Casablanca begging for money. When Ali is ruthlessly murdered by a local gang, his friends are determined to give him a farewell suitable for royalty and come together to plan his extravagant funeral.