FLYING TO CASABLANCA.

A few days prior to heading out to Morocco, I spent a day ferrying all over London to collect our carnet and lenses. It was a relief to have everything physically in my possession.

On the day of our flight, I ventured from Folkestone to meet with our DOP, Will, at his home to organise packing equipment into our luggage. Will had curated a beautiful collection of vintage lamps that he wanted to use in the film. These practical lights feel as though they could easily exist within the world we are creating but they will also serve the function of creating depth for each interior cinematographic composition.

We ventured to the airport together and after navigating customs and being stopped (only once) during check-in, we boarded our flight to Casablanca. Arij had the unfortunate experience of sitting beside a passenger who dropped a case of half-melted Camembert onto the seat beside her - apparently the smell it could wake the dead. Fortunately, I have a talent for being able to deep-sleep in almost any situation so I managed to bypass the whole ordeal.

Once we touched down in Casablanca our lovely line producer, Hajar and her husband, Abdelmoughit, met us at the flat the production company had arranged for us to hand over the keys. It was so nice to finally meet Hajar in person after so many months of Zoom meetings and WhatsApp messages.

Arij had first dibs on the double room with ensuite, lol! The flat itself is lovely and is located 5 minutes walk from the production office.

I had a good night’s sleep, knowing we would be hitting the ground running the following day.

x