Widen the Circle: An Obscure Experimentation in North African Avant-Garde Cinema by Ali Essafi traces the colonial history present in North African cinema through three films: Mémoire 14 [Memory 14] (1971), directed by Ahmed Bouanani; Mohammadia (1973), directed by Ahmed Bennys; and Combien je vous aime [How much I love you] (1985), directed by Azzedine Meddour. The essay offers insight into why these works have remained largely overlooked by local and international audiences.

A filmmaker, artist and curator based in Morocco and Brazil, Essafi was the recipient of Sharjah Art Foundation’s Publishing Grant in 2020. Organised annually by the Foundation, the Grant supports original research and projects that take an experimental and innovative approach to bookmaking.