Synopsis

At the end of 2006, DJ Key, the top Hip Hop DJ in Morocco and the founder of the Moroccan Hip Hop Association, planned the first Hip Hop festival ever in Africa where Hip Hop artists scattered all over the underground scene could gather in one place. The festival scheduled the event in three leading Moroccan cities including Marrakesh, but the fact that Hip Hop was still largely perceived as a low type of music played by delinquents and the lack of financial support made this difficult to realize. Festival organizers approached numerous companies and embassies for sponsorship. Although they dared not turn to the US Embassy due to its hostile position towards the Arab world, it was eventually the US Embassy that pitched in. And in May, 2007, the festival under the title‘, I Love Hip Hop in Morocco’with Morocco’s leading Hip Hop artists including Mafia C, Mc Bigg and Mot de Passe attending, was able to take flight. Following this endeavor six months before the festival, the film explores the dreams of young Moroccan. The last 30-minute concert footage vividly captures the excitement and energy of Hip Hop beyond borders and cultures. (Chun Jin-su)

Directors

• 
  • Joshua Eisen
  • Joshua Eisen and Jennifer Needleman became colleagues while studying at Brown University in the US. Needleman, who majored in creative writing, worked as a journalist and then studied screenwriting at the USC Graduate Film School. Eisen, who studied music and French, worked in record company promotions before studying in Morocco. Eisen, as a Fulbright scholar in Morocco to research the influence of American Hip Hop on the young generation of Morocco, proposed the idea of making a film to Needleman, leading to the creation of *Morocco Hip Hop Festival*. This work has won awards at various documentary film festivals, and their production company, Rizz, has produced many works.

• 
  • Jennifer Needleman
  • Joshua Eisen and Jennifer Needleman became colleagues while studying at Brown University in the US. Needleman, who majored in creative writing, worked as a journalist and then studied screenwriting at the USC Graduate Film School. Eisen, who studied music and French, worked in record company promotions before studying in Morocco. Eisen, as a Fulbright scholar in Morocco to research the influence of American Hip Hop on the young generation of Morocco, proposed the idea of making a film to Needleman, leading to the creation of *Morocco Hip Hop Festival*. This work has won awards at various documentary film festivals, and their production company, Rizz, has produced many works.