His book "The last storytellers: Tales from the heart of Morocco' emphasises the importance of storytelling throughout mankind's history in terms of conveying ideas, morals and a way of entertainment and escapism. Gestures and expressions are just as important in order to capture people's imagination.
Storytelling in Morocco is believed to have appeared well before the Arab invasion. It was a necessity in the Berbers daily life and a religious ritual which was used to inform other tribes of the different other regions.
Before being founded by the Almoravid, Marrakech was an oasis in the desert, in which travellers from around the maghreb used to stop for water, shelter and exchange stories making it a very important crossroad which soon became a market in the name of Jemaa el Fna.
The storytelling in the market is called Halka, which means a circle or ring formed by people and at the centre is the performer (Hlayki). The story was then told by old men whose styles differ from deep voice, softly spoken to theatrical and shouty.
However this form of communication and expression is dying out due to the new forms of entertainment such as internet.
This project will be at the same time, personal, in a way to recreate some of the memories through adapting Richard's experience as well as paying tribute to these magical human beings who have, through patience and commitment, succeeded to entertain, discipline and unify humanity in many ways.
Reading the book and further researching allowed me to have a better understanding of context.
The next step would be locating the important passages of the book in order to create a storyboard/animatic.
