Khata [Aiman Hassani] ****
During the Q&A after the screening of this gut-wrenching portrait of a teenager seemingly trapped in the world of sexual exploitation in the form of male prostution, Aiman Hassani admitted he had received death threats because of his insightful and, frankly, pretty entertaining documentary “Maar Je Achternaam Is Toch Marokkaans?”, in which he tries to reconcile his sense of being Dutch – he was born and raised in The Netherlands – with his family’s Moroccan roots. So he would have been forgiven for taking on a safer subject for his latest film. But, like for instance Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, he is is a humanitarian and chooses stories he feels must be shared with a wide audience. Hassani based “Khati” on an article he had read in 2016 about the exploitation of teenage boys who were forced into prostitution and often picked up their clients in and around Rotterdam Central Station. To prepare for this film he sought the help of people who worked with the victims of such prostitution rings and it has resulted in a film that is insightful, meaningful, and, in spite of its depressing premise and the scale of the problem, ends up with the slightest glimmer of hope.
During the Q&A after the screening of this gut-wrenching portrait of a teenager seemingly trapped in the world of sexual exploitation in the form of male prostution, Aiman Hassani admitted he had received death threats because of his insightful and, frankly, pretty entertaining documentary “Maar Je Achternaam Is Toch Marokkaans?”, in which he tries to reconcile his sense of being Dutch – he was born and raised in The Netherlands – with his family’s Moroccan roots. So he would have been forgiven for taking on a safer subject for his latest film. But, like for instance Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, he is is a humanitarian and chooses stories he feels must be shared with a wide audience. Hassani based “Khati” on an article he had read in 2016 about the exploitation of teenage boys who were forced into prostitution and often picked up their clients in and around Rotterdam Central Station. To prepare for this film he sought the help of people who worked with the victims of such prostitution rings and it has resulted in a film that is insightful, meaningful, and, in spite of its depressing premise and the scale of the problem, ends up with the slightest glimmer of hope.
Although
they never become explicit, there are gay sex scenes in this film, and that
made it hard to cast this film. Teenager Akram Tanna deserves a lot of credit
for taking on this role, and although his performance isn’t flawless, he gives a
remarkably assured performance as Kamal, the teenager desperately trying to hide
his terrible secret from his friends and, in particular, his parents. Kamal
finds hope and love when he meets Jacob, an well-educated, charming and attractive
client [Tobias Nierop] with whom he quickly falls in love. But as he and Jacob
meet more and more frequently, Kamal's pimp Danny [a frighteningly convincing Chris Peters] demands Kamal makes more money, or else... Is there a way out for
Kamal? And, more importantly, is there any hope for his future?
Hassani's screenplay isn't without its flaws either: it's hard to believe that a man as intelligent as Jacob would sleep with a minor in the building he is working on and a violent argument between Kamal and his father is never resolved, but the story is quite involving and a real eye-opener. Hassani offers no easy solution to a problem for which there are no easy solutions, which must have made it very difficult to come up with an appropriate ending. Hassani pulls it off nevertheless, coming up with a finale that leaves you with a sense of hope, but the final shot makes it clear that Hassani is well aware that even if there is hope for Kamal, the problem of sexual exploitation is much more difficult to tackle.
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