Women, madness, myth and film: exploring Moroccan psychological trauma and postmemory in Pegase (Mohamed Mouftakir, 2010)

Moroccan cinema serves as a cultural barometer measuring the sociocultural and political transformations that are taking place in the country. Certainly since 1999, the death of King Hassan II, and the ascension of his son, King Mohamed VI, the country has sought to map its future as a leader of reform in the Arab world. This article considers how memories and unrevealed stories of this oppressive era have been scrutinised in psychologically probing and thought-provoking Moroccan films over the last 15 years - most recently Pegase. These films are discussed as conduits for the healing of collective memory or, 'postmemory' (Marianne Hirsch), a discussion that will contribute to the social stability of contemporary Morocco. The postmemory process will aid collective consciousness in coming to terms with the egregious violations committed in the past as Morocco confronts the anxiety-ridden present of modernity.