They Were Promised the Sea is a lyrical, polemical, musical road movie on dispossession and exile, hope and the possibilities of coexistence.

 

"... Kathy Wazana’s lyrical documentary They Were Promised the Sea slowly unfolds its tale of a Moroccan-Jewish history that combined a deep multi-century sense of belonging with a hasty departure under the shadow of the Israeli/Arab conflict. The film unveils a complex portrait of intimately connected Jewish and Muslim lives in Morocco. ... The film celebrates the mutual Muslim/Jewish desire to revive a precious past that had been partially eclipsed but which, as the dialogue in Hebrew and Arabic in the musical finale shows, remains vital and vibrant.” –– Ella Habiba Shohat, author of Israeli Cinema: East/West and the Politics of Representation

 

“It’s the emotional, lyrical, and poetic quality of the documentary that shines [...] a new way of looking at North Africa and Middle East issues.” –– Barry Greenwald, director: Between Two Worlds, Who Gets In?

“... a splendid and deeply complex investigative exposé ... brilliantly conceived and directed - so complex and wrenching ... a prayer of hope.” –– Evangeline Kim, National Geographic Music

Kathy Wazana is a Casablanca-born, Toronto-based writer, translator, editor, turned documentary filmmaker, whose current work focuses on Jewish-Arab relations in Morocco and in Israel-Palestine.

In recent years, Kathy has turned her attention to studying and understanding Jewish-Arab relations through the history of Jews in Morocco and her own identity as an Arab Jew.

Kathy has worked in politics and the labour movement, in educational television, publishing and advertising, in government, public and media relations, and in international development, in France and in Canada. She is a life-long peace activist and advocate for equity and human rights.

The rupture provoked by the partition of Palestine and the creation of the State of Israel is the subject of Kathy’s first feature, award-winning documentary They Were Promised the Sea / Pour une Nouvelle Séville. She has presented her film in Jewish Film Festivals, universities, all over the world.