Moroccan Songbook

On 17 July 1939, the third anniversary of the military rebellion that began the Civil War, the documentary Romancero marroquí debuted in Spanish cinemas. It was no accident that this happened on the third anniversary of the military uprising that initiated the Spanish Civil War. The film is a work of propaganda intended for the Spanish public that praises the rebels and their policies in the Protectorate in Morocco. It also explains Moroccan support for the revolt, both at the political level, from the khalif, the representative of the Sultan and supreme indigenous authority, and in civil society, as manifested in the enthusiasm with which Moroccans volunteered to serve in the rebel army. The heroism of the Moroccan soldiers and their support for the rebelsis shown as both an individual and a collective act.

The film focuses on Aalami, a farmer with a wife, Fatma, and children, who enlisted with the rebels. Aalami’s family is portrayed as a model, Moslem family that reproduces, in a Moroccan key, the roles and values of the Franco regime’s ideal Catholic one. His decision to enlist is presented as voluntary, heroic and valiant, and, in line with movies such as Raza (1941), inspired by religious faith. Aalami is wounded three times but survives and returns home as a sergeant in the Regulares and achero. While he was away, his family benefitted from the good works of the Spanish administration, when their sick son is treated by the public medical service.

Religion is present throughout the film in scenes showing the mosque and prayer services. Moroccans are men of faith and belief, something that connects them to the Catholicism of the rebel side. They share the brotherhood of a struggle blessed by god against a common enemy. Aalami is wounded three times, but he comes back as a sergeant in the “Regulares” and a hero. In the meantime, his wife benefits from Spain´s good works in Morocco such as public medicine for her sick child.

The film begins with a text against a black background: “A talking picture made in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco at the initiative of the High Commissioner, thinking of Franco and the enthusiastic support of all Moroccans.” Moroccan Songbook is a cultural manifestation of the policy of recruiting Moroccans that Beigbeder started at the outbreak of the conflict. Just weeks after the film’s debut, Franco made Beigbeder his foreign minister.