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Mohammed & Paul - Once Upon a Time in Tangier

Feature - 93 min

The complex relationship between storyteller Mohammed Mrabet and author Paul Bowles in Tangier

Mohammed & Paul - Once Upon a Time in Tangier 1960s Tangier was a base for Beat Generation artists and writers, including author Paul Bowles (The Sheltering Sky). As renowned as Bowles was, a darker, unknown side to his character existed. This is the extraordinary story of Bowles' relationship with illiterate Moroccan Mohammed Mrabet, and how Bowles gained him wide recognition by transcribing and publishing Mrabet's spoken stories. Bowles kept all Mrabet's earnings for himself but little did he know that the wily Moroccan would get his own back. In a setting where creativity and free morality went hand in hand with colonial inequality and racism, a complex relationship developed between the two. Now in his late eighties, Mrabet, a master at interweaving fantasy and reality, looks back.


Festivals and Awards
Laurel IDFA 2025 | World Premiere

Reviews and More

"A fascinating and vibrant account of their unusual, somewhat asymmetric, liaison, set against the ugly backdrop of colonialist excess” – Business Doc Europe

The Producers


Jos de Putter – Producer

Jos de Putter (1959) is a Dutch filmmaker and visual artist renowned for his poetic, human-centered documentaries. Trained in linguistics, literature, and philosophy in Leiden and Berlin, he began his career as a film critic before debuting with It’s Been a Lovely Day (1993), a quietly powerful portrait of his parents’ final year on their traditional farm. The film won major national honours and was later named one of the sixteen greatest Dutch films ever made. De Putter’s international reputation grew with award-winning works such as Solo, the Law of the Favela (1994), The Making of a New Empire (1999), Dans, Grozny Dans (2002), Beyond the Game (2008), and See No Evil (2013). His films have been celebrated at festivals worldwide, accompanied by retrospectives in Washington, Berkeley, Brooklyn, and Florence. Alongside his filmmaking, De Putter creates acclaimed video installations and produces innovative documentaries for television and online platforms, championing bold and often “impossible” creative visions.

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