"Les mille et un jours du Hajj Edmond"

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Film still from "Les mille et un jours du Hajj Edmond," directed by Simone Bitton (Morocco, France, 2024).

Militant, exile, writer, and thinker, Edmond Amran El Maleh (1917–2010) wrote until the very end. Before becoming one of the most powerful literary voices of the Moroccan Jewish experience, he had been an activist in the struggle for Moroccan independence and held senior positions within the Moroccan Communist Party, until he turned away from political life to devote himself to philosophy, literature, and art. He published his first novel at 63, during a voluntary exile in Paris. His friends called him Hajj—in Arabic, the pilgrim—a mark of belonging to the Moroccan people. Simone Bitton addresses this cinematic letter to him, weaving together texts, testimonies, and archives to trace the memory of a man shaped by two tragedies: the departure of Morocco’s Jews and the exodus of the Palestinians.

Simone Bitton is an award-winning filmmaker whose films engage with the complexities of history, identity, and political struggle. Her films have won numerous awards, including the César Award, the Marseille Festival of Documentary Film Award, and the Sundance Film Festival, Special Jury Prize.

As a Jewish French-Moroccan filmmaker and activist, Bitton has dared to criticize human rights abuses and has resisted dominant narratives that seek to inscribe Zionism on the Jewish diaspora. Through her thoughtful exploration of Middle Eastern and North African histories, Bitton offers vital, nuanced perspectives that confront questions of justice, memory, and identity.

Film will be screened in original version with subtitles in Catalan.

A film in the 2026 edition of the Barcelona Jewish Film Festival.

October Film Festivals in and around Barcelona

October’s calendar is packed with an impressive list of film festivals in and around the city. Check out our article October Film Festivals in and around Barcelona where you'll find gritty investigative documentaries, hair-raising fantasy and horror flicks and everything in between!

For more events check our online events calendar.