continental tanger

Daniel Calderon, Switzerland, 2002

Synopsis Producers
Door to the South or door to the North? Exposed to the open sea, at the junction of two continents, Tanger has a special cultural role to play. Europeans and Americans have captured it in their dreams of exoticism. The film recalls the never-ending artistic effervescence of Tanger with its various creative scenes. Around Morocco‘s oldest hotel, the Continental Tanger, we follow the footsteps of Bernardo Bertolucci, Orson Welles, Humprey Bogart, The Beat Poets, Paul Bowles, Jean Genet and also The Rolling Stones. Well-known local writers Mohamed Choukri and Souad Bahéchar bring us closer to the secret of their hometown. The important musical influence of the traditional gnawas upon American jazz is retold by Randy Weston. Of its mythical past, the white city has kept a strong tradition of openness and tolerance.