The House of Gnaoua

A Place Where People Still Gather
A Morocco–Japan Documentary Film Project

Produced by Gnaoua Academy Records

Currently in production in Essaouira, Morocco.

ABOUT THE FILM

Beyond the Music

What keeps Gnaoua alive?

The House of Gnaoua is a documentary film project developed through long-term encounters with Gnaoua musicians, families, and communities in Morocco.

Beyond the stage and festival performances, the film enters the homes where people gather, share meals, talk, laugh, pray, and pass memories from one generation to the next.

Rather than focusing only on music, the film explores the lives, relationships, and sounds that continue to sustain Gnaoua culture.

SYNOPSIS

A Story About Gnaoua as It Lives Inside the Home

Essaouira, Morocco.

Beyond the excitement of the world-famous Gnaoua Festival, people continue to gather in their homes, share meals, sing, pray, and remember.

Guided by friends, the filmmaker enters these homes and encounters a world rarely seen from the stage.

By listening carefully to the sounds that inhabit these spaces—the guembri, the qraqeb, family conversations, waves, prayer, laughter, and silence—the film captures the moments when family, community, memory, and the unseen quietly reveal themselves.

WHAT THE FILM EXPLORES

PEOPLE
The lives behind the music.

FAMILY
Where memory is shared across generations.

COMMUNITY
The friendships and gatherings that keep traditions alive.

MEMORY
Stories carried from one generation to the next.

THE UNSEEN
The presence that cannot always be explained, but can be felt.

THE SOUND OF THE HOUSE

The deep pulse of the guembri.

The metallic resonance of the qarqaba.

Family conversations.

Laughter around the table.

Waves breaking on the shore.

The call to prayer.

And the silence before dawn.

Currently in Production

Planned running time: 20 minutes
Documentary short
Filming in Essaouira, Morocco

DIRECTOR

Ricci Inagaki
Producer and filmmaker.

Since 2015, he has traveled regularly to Morocco, documenting Gnaoua culture through long-term relationships and encounters.

His previous works include Gnaoua Encounter and Before It’s Too Late.

He is the founder of Gnaoua Academy Records.

→ gnaoua-academy-records.com

CONTACT

Ricci Inagaki
Director / Producer

📧 ricci.inagaki@gmail.com
🌐 thehouseofgnaoua.org

CREDITS

The House of Gnaoua

Director & Producer
Ricci Inagaki

Co-produced with
Hawa Abdo (Mounim)

Produced by
Gnaoua Academy Records

Country
Japan / Morocco

Status
Currently in Production

Ricci Inagaki and Hawa Abdo (Mounim), Essaouira, Morocco.