RAJA

Raja France/Morocco

Frédéric is a wealthy middle-aged Frenchman residing in a luxurious mansion in Morocco. Life is easy for him, lazing about in the sun, being pampered by his two Arab housemaids. But he is bored. New life is injected into him when his roving eye spots one of his garden staff, the high-spirited, 19-year-old Raja, and he sets out to have her. Orphaned and scarred by life, Raja's only sphere of influence is her boyfriend, Youssef, and a girlfriend who acts as her sole confidant. Attracted by the attention from her boss, Raja begins flirting with him, without regard of the consequences. What starts as an innocent game grows more serious as Frédéric becomes obsessed with Raja.

'Jacques Doillon's extraordinarily intelligent new film is a devastating and highly provocative portrait of colonial society'its attitudes, its legacy and the tragedies it can leave behind. Beautifully written, acted and conceived, Doillon's film covers explosive ground with a delicacy that avoids the stereotypes and clichés all too easily manufactured by a subject of this kind.' -Toronto International Film Festival

'Intriguing, provocative and very well acted'-'Variety

D/S Jacques Doillon P Margaret Menegoz WS Les Films du Losange L French, Moroccan w/English subtitles TD 35mm/Col/2003/112mins

Jacques Doillon was born in Paris, France. Films include: L'an 01 (1973), Le Petit Criminel (1990), Ponette (1996), Little Fellas (MIFF 2000).