The Runner

Synopsis

The Runner is a film about endurance. It is the story of Salah Ameidan, a champion runner from Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara, whose journey transformed him from an athlete into the symbol of a national liberation movement. 

Forced to join Morocco's Junior Athletics team at 14, he was soon an international champion. But while he won gold medals for Morocco, he and his family were being arrested, detained and tortured in prison by Morocco for their independence activism.

In 2003, as he won a crucial race in France, he pulled out the Sahrawi flag - illegal in Morocco. He immediately became both a refugee and a hero to his people. Even in France, he suffers attacks, and his family are harassed, detained, tortured and even killed by the Moroccan regime.

The Runner follows Salah over three critical years in his life. As he turns 30, the Arab Spring is born in a protest camp in Western Sahara. The film looks at the burden of being a hero and asks "How long, before you stop running"?
http://www.touristwithatypewriter.com/therunner/runner_synopsis.htm

Details

Year

2012

Type of film

Features

Running Time

93 min

Format

XDCAM EX

Director

Saeed Taji Farouky 1st Feature

Producer

Elhum Shakerifar

Co-Producer

Estelle Robin You, Rachel Lysaght

Executive Producer

Mike Chamberlain

Editor

Emiliano Battista

Director of Photography

Saeed Taji Farouky

Sound

Joe Lewis

Music

Joe Lewis

Associate Producer

Patricia Tobin Kubal

Production Manager (UK)

Marie-Thérèse Garvey

Production Manager (France)

Emmanuelle Jacq

Additional camera

Toufique Ali, Afshin Dehkordi, Marie-Thérèse Garvey, Farhad Mirza, Elhum Shakerifar, Jo Metson Scott, Hikaru Toda

Additional Editing

Gareth Keogh

Location Sound

Brendan Butler, Joe Lewis

Additional Location Sound

Marie Frison, Elhum Shakerifar

Stills Photographer

Jo Metson Scott

Archive and Research Assistant

Sarah Saey

Translations

Nora Allali, Dominic Bennett, Sarra Elatanabi, Juliette Hargreave, Mohamed Sulaiman Labat, Clémence Sebag, Benedict Stainer

Online

Peter Appleyard

Colourist

Mat Troughton

Dubbing Mixer

Joe Lewis

Genre

• Human Rights
• Documentary

Production status

Complete

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Last updated 5th March 2013