Trances (15*)

So entranced was he by the film, Scorsese chose to inaugurate the work of his World Cinema Foundation, 26 years later, with this title. 

Opening on an eight-minute bravura set-piece showing the band performing to a huge, wildly enthusiastic audience in Carthage, the film visits Hay Mohammedi, the Casablanca slum where the group got its start, and from there interweaves filmed interviews and archival footage to build a multi-faceted portrait of the band (at the time, Omar Sayed, Larbi Batma, Abderrahman ‘Paco’ Kirouche, and Allal Yaâla), their inspirations and outlook.

Nass El Ghiwane’s music draws on Morocco’s ‘Gwana’ trance music tradition, and some of the film’s most memorable scenes show concert audiences dancing in trance-like ecstasy, sometimes overflowing onto the stage, and even embracing the four musicians.