Ordinary Boys

A sense of unease and anticipation follows these not so ORDINARY BOYS as they navigate through their lives and the streets of their Moroccan neighborhood of Jamaa Mezwak. This is the neighborhood that produced five of the terrorists responsible for the March 11, 2004 bombing in Madrid and, among the neighbors, there is much discussion about the current global situation and the personal decisions made by the young men. The documentary closely follows three of the residents as each makes choices. There is Youseff, nursing a significant leg wound and making a living as both a petty drug dealer and budding entrepreneur. He is unsuccessfully trying to gain information about his missing brother who is thought to be in Afghanistan. Rabia studied law at university but is now left to create her own employment as a seamstress because of the lack of other choices. Idealistic El-Khader dreams of a career on the big stage. Shot in the vérité style, ORDINARY BOYS maintains a sense of immediacy and rawness, presenting a compelling narrative on a different kind of “ordinary.” (In Arabic with English subtitles) – C.C.P.