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Boufous: We often risked our lives while filming episodes of Amouddou
Amouddou, a documentary broadcast on Morocco’s Al Aoula channel for nearly twenty years, combines striking images, beauty and professional filming and direction. Its captivating narration gives the weekly programme a distinctive force, carrying viewers to little-known places across Morocco and earning it numerous awards at home and abroad.
The programme’s director, Hassan Boufous, has fascinated audiences with his voice and prompted many to ask who he is. In this interview, he discusses his beginnings in audiovisual production, the reasons for Amouddou’s longevity and the dangers encountered during filming.
Welcome. How did you take your first steps in audiovisual work and documentary directing?
I graduated from Ibn Zohr University with a degree in history in 2000. Since childhood, my dream had been to direct films and work in audiovisual production. Even when I reached university, I never imagined that dream would come true. I pursued my passion by taking part for four years in the faculty’s film club, led by Mohamed Benyahia. Immediately after graduating, I joined Fawzi Vision, and my first assignment was the first episode of Amouddou.
I gained valuable experience there, having never worked for another production company. I began formally as a trainee, then after months of struggle and hard work moved into practical production. I discovered a close connection between the study of history—which I had assumed was far removed from my future work—and documentary production. That, briefly, was my beginning.
And documentary directing?
I initially worked in editing. After five films, the company entrusted me with directing because it saw both ability and a creative vision in my work. This was around 2000–2002. The first documentary I directed for Amouddou was “Ibil Bilal,” about the daily life of a camel herder in the Moroccan desert.
Amouddou is an Amazigh word and the name of your weekly documentary series on Al Aoula. What does it mean, and why did you choose it?
Amouddou comes from the Amazigh verb ida, meaning to go, travel or leave. Quite simply, it means travel. We did not want an exploration programme to carry a conventional or overused title. We chose this resonant Amazigh word because of our identity and because it attracts attention.
You direct and narrate Amouddou, and many viewers admire your voice. Do you consider it an additional strength?
A documentary is like a symphony performed by several musicians. If one instrument fails, or one artist plays a wrong note, the viewer senses the flaw. Voice has its share in the programme’s success, just as music, cinematography, the choice of words, lighting and the presenter’s presence do. From the programme’s beginnings until today, messages and social-media comments have shown how much attention the voice attracts. When the Amouddou caravan travels through the country and meets local people, the first question is often: “Where is the man behind the voice?” I thank God for that gift.
What is the secret of Amouddou’s continuity over twenty years?
This year we celebrate the twenty-first anniversary. The reason, as I always say, is the team’s love for its work. Everyone makes enormous sacrifices to keep the programme going. The challenges are considerable and sometimes certain tasks or ambitions seem impossible, but in the end we are satisfied with the content and with what we have achieved. The producer does not pursue profit above all else; he pursues quality and wants Morocco to appear beautiful, with all its cultural and civilisational richness and the assets the country possesses.
What dangers do you face during filming?
They are usually dangers posed by nature. Since its beginnings, the programme has explored caves, valleys, mountains and gorges. We have often risked our lives. In the desert, for example, we had to reach pre-Islamic tombs dating to around 2300 BC. They consist of upright rocks arranged in a remarkable geometric form. Nobody had filmed them because the surrounding area was mined. Reaching them was an adventure in itself. We succeeded after very tense moments; personally, between one step and the next, I recited the profession of faith and expected a mine to explode beneath my feet.
The programme’s on-screen presenter, who is also its producer, once entered a cave and swam in a lake inside a mountain. He could not find his way back, while the oxygen cylinder on his back held no more than twenty minutes of air. We rescued him at the last moment. An explorer inevitably encounters such risks because we seek everything new and exciting. Some untouched places have never been reached by a camera: getting there requires specialised techniques, exceptional physical effort and the ability to cross extremely difficult terrain.
Amouddou is a Moroccan programme on a Moroccan channel. Could it one day be shown on a foreign channel?
More than fifteen years ago, before Al Jazeera Documentary existed, Al Jazeera agreed in principle to broadcast some episodes. Political problems then interrupted relations for a time and the plan did not materialise. A Kuwaiti channel also expressed interest. I think it is good for Amouddou to remain on Al Aoula. The world has become a small village—what difference does it make whether a programme is broadcast here or elsewhere? Our ambition is for Moroccan television itself to compete with well-known foreign channels and to raise its standards.
Why, in your view, has documentary production been weak in Morocco?
Before 2000, documentary production was indeed limited to a handful of films. I remember the series “On the Banks of the Rivers,” “Treasures” by Omar Amrir, and several independent documentaries. Amouddou established a series with a different scope and kept pace with technological progress. We acquired each important new tool that reached the market: we were the first to use HD in 2006, the first to use an HDCAM SR camera, and the first to bring in a Phantom camera capable of slow-motion recording at 2,700 frames per second or more. We also adopted 4K and drones.
These choices consolidated the programme’s position and made it an example for newcomers to documentary production. From the end of the twentieth century into the beginning of the twenty-first, Moroccan documentaries multiplied. More recently, the National Company of Radio and Television decided to increase documentary-production budgets, creating a major qualitative leap compared with the previous two or three years.
Thirteen seasons is a long journey. Which event remains most vivid in Hassan Boufous’s memory?
Every year was full of adventures. There was the minefield, the near-drowning, and other incidents. Near Chefchaouen, while searching for a cave, we lost our way in complete darkness. Sudden rain fell and we could not protect the cameras and lighting equipment. Yet despite the danger, the beautiful moments remain strongest in my memory: the time spent together as a team we came to love. Some members have passed away—may God have mercy on them—and we still remember them with sorrow. For those still with us, we pray for long lives, health and well-being.
Thank you for your time and for accepting our invitation. A final word?
Thank you for your interest and for choosing to speak with me. I sincerely hope Amouddou has achieved its purpose: helping raise the standard of national media and bringing many remote, forgotten Moroccan regions into the light. I pray that we are given the strength to continue and achieve more.
I should also mention that the programme recently changed direction after evidence suggested that a leopard—or perhaps a family of leopards—may still exist in Morocco. This surprised environmental scientists who had concluded that large predators had long disappeared from the country. In recent years, the team has tried by every possible means to film this animal. The task is extremely difficult, but signs in nature make us confident that it is there.
Mohsen Barhami, journalism student