Gardens of Fez

Gardens of Fez is a documentary film recalling the vanishing gardens of the old city of Fez and the worlds they enclose

The narrow streets of the old city of Fez wind around walled houses, crumbling palaces and quiet courtyards. Rajae, a schoolteacher, reminisces about the gardens and streams–places once alive with mystery and discovery–that have now fallen into neglect or vanished entirely. As architect Rachid Haloui uncovers the hidden network of waterways and springs that shaped Fez, Rajae sets out to develop a play, determined to revive these stories. On a rooftop, the rehearsal begins. Elsewhere in the city, a poet recalls an old verse, a gardener tends one of the last remaining plots, and a dancer encounters the spirit of water. Their stories, rituals and songs, as well as the daily care of the city’s fountains and parks, reveal Fez as a city at a threshold–where memory and imagination resist dissapearance, and remain deeply intertwined with everyday life.

Director: Heidi Vogels