Amouddou explores the snowbound Atlas Mountains under the threat of the “white death”

On a new journey through time and place—this time “at the mercy of the white death”—the Amouddou documentary team continues to explore Morocco’s unknown regions and uncover the hidden layers of its natural and historical heritage.

Created by director Hassan Boufous and a team passionate about exploration, the series turned its attention in its eleventh season to the Atlas Mountains. For the first time in the programme’s two-decade history, it set out to bring many of the region’s historical secrets back into view.

“The season reveals hidden stories and historical monuments dating from distant eras,” Boufous explained, “especially around Khenifra, a city that suffers isolation and neglect despite the region’s exceptional historical wealth.”

He added: “Very few people specialise in the region’s history, and we did not find enough references for our research. In the end, we found ourselves becoming the source and the reference.”

Combining creative and educational ambition, Amouddou assumed responsibility for revealing neglected historical sites that once played an important role in the country’s development across many fields. These include Fazaz and Ighrem Imouzar, both of which have fallen into neglect.

Boufous told Hespress: “While filming this season—a process that took more than two months—we became convinced that the region’s history urgently needs people to rescue it from its present, deeply troubling condition.”

Asked about the new season’s discoveries, he explained: “The programme is fundamentally based on exploring places and everything historical, human and environmental. We therefore search for subjects that have never previously been explored by the media.”

“Alongside the human dimension, these episodes tried to show the suffering of Atlas residents during winter. Filming coincided with exceptionally heavy snowfall, the likes of which the region had not seen for forty years. We resisted those conditions and relied on patience and solidarity, at the mercy of the white death, to convey the stories and hardships of people whose main hope is simply for a paved road that will end their isolation.”

To achieve that, the director continued, “reality and imagination must be combined through every available means: modern technology, an original score and a distinctive approach to writing.” He added that the work draws its vitality from a crew that deeply believes in Amouddou’s mission.

On preparing the script, Boufous said: “Although we prepare a written scenario, nature imposes its own script on us. We try to follow it. It is not enough simply to leave the camera running; the work requires a broad imagination and attention to the smallest details.”

“We choose the filming location and establish an overall vision for the episode without fixing every detail, because the goal is discovery.”

Original article on Hespress.