THE MAKING OF...
Susan Pollack, my camera person and I set out from Los Angeles in early summer of 1986 with 15 cases of equipment.
First stop Germany to buy a cheap van. The VW bus we bought had a major mechanical malfunction after a mere 5-day drive.
We were stuck in Spain for ten long days with an unfixable transmission and every mechanic in Europe on vacation.
Once in Morocco it took us a little over a month to get all the paperwork done, scout the locations and rehearse the actors.
The Brides Fair of Imilchil happened to be in the middle of the High Atlas Mountains, a rigorous five and a half hour drive in first gear up a rocky dirt mountain road. We had to drive up there twice.
Shooting in Fez was a little easier because there was electricity. The filming was all done in the old city which is not accessible by car.
All the equipment had to be carried in and out on donkey backs. I used only non-professional actors and recorded the events and ceremonies as they would have happened to preserve a feeling of authenticity.
