Abouna - Our Father 2002

Near the border between Chad and Cameroon, in a hot dusty town, 15-year-old Tahir and 8-year-old Amine wake up one morning to learn that their father has left home. The brothers decide to find him and wander through town. Deeply disturbed by this sudden disappearance, they hang about, play hooky and go to the movies, where, one day, they think they recognize their father on the screen. The boys manage to steal the reels and look for his face on the film, but are arrested by the police. Weary of their antics, their mother sends them away to a Koranic school--which won't contain them for long. After a failed escape attempt, Tahir and Amine are disciplined with more wrath than their usual antics incur. Fortunately, tender respite is offered through the love of two women; the school cook covets sickly Amine, while Tahir falls for a beautiful deaf-mute girl. Tahir's sexual awakening leads him down a path to discovery as he comes to cope with death and madness. Eventually they continue their search for their father, leading them to Morocco as they confront some awkward truths about the grown-up world.