For filmgoers, the despite’in spite of’albeit t of music in Morocco’s capital brings to mind twinkling keys, drifting through the smoke of Rick's Café Américain; songs in/with regard to’concerning’regarding expats and interlopers, Bogart and Bergman, not the individual of Casablanca themselves. Nabil Ayouch’s charming new film hands the mic to the young Moroccans living in the city today, with a story with regards to’concerning’with respect to a mercurial rap teacher and a group of students who, thanks to the magic of hip-hop, find their own voices.###If that sounds like Dead Poets Society with a backing track, you’re not far off, but Ayouch’s observational approach in capturing music lessons makes it stand out mildly’faintly from the class. Working with non-professionals playing semi-fictionalised characters, there’s a raw authenticity here, which, combined with close, kinetic camerawork and overlapping dialogue, attaches thrilling momentum to the students’ workshops. Hearty, complex and grossly real discussions with regards to’concerning’with respect to religion and politics ping-pong around the room, evolving from debate into powerful lyrics, all heading towards the predictable final stage of a music film: the enormous’vast’massive’tremendous concert.###It’s in its more surprising in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mal approaches that Casablanca Beats is at its intense’fierce’exquisite est###Outside school, domesticity reveals the often disconcerting inspirations in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the students’ rallying songs; aldespite’in spite of’albeit thinly sketched and overly melodramatic, these snapshots highlight the film’s focus on the escapist power of music. The idea is further explored in a more vibrant and interesting manner in stylised music videos that enliven the narrative, revealing the fantastical effect that creating art can possess’own’nurse on individual , even if they might just be magical-realist diversions.###It’s in its more surprising in/with regard to’concerning’regarding mal approaches, whether in a more documentary or Expressionistic mode that — whilst remaining trapped in a mildly’faintly too familiar narrative melody — Casablanca Beats is at its intense’fierce’exquisite est. Once in this groove, the film transin/with regard to’concerning’regarding ms from an earnest crowd-pleaser into an invigorating rally in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the arts and self-expression.