We Could Be Heroes

Production year: 2018
Country: Morocco
Director: Hind Bensari
Producers: Vibeke Vogel & Habib Attia

When Azzedine Nouiri comes back home to Morocco from the London Paralympic Games with a gold medal and world record, he thinks his life is about to change and he will finally have the means to build a bright future and feed his family. However, he is instead immediately forgotten by the federation and the government who deny him the right to a salary, social care and even the right to train in his city’s athletics stadium. But at the same time, he becomes the symbol of success for Youssef, a mentally disabled illiterate boy who has been isolated all his life and would now love to take the airplane for the first time, to see the world, to be seen. This unusual pair’s journey ends up being less about sport and more about the pains and joys of their struggle to exist as men in a society uninterested in supporting those who are different. Through the challenges they encounter, “We Could Be Heroes” paints a portrait of Moroccan society, and the need for those who are marginalised to be loved and accepted to feel worthy.