The third day of the international film festival of Marrakech kicked off with two special ‘in conversation with’, featuring the French actresses Julie Delpy and Marine Fois and the first-ever screening of Maryam Touzani’s “The blue caftan” in MEA regions.
Produced by Touzani’s husband, Nabil Ayouch, the film is the only Moroccan movie in FIFM’s 19 edition official competition.
Touzani took over the stage at the screening hall with Saleh Bakri, the lead actor, and Ayouch. She thanked Remi Bonhomme, the artistic director of FIFM for inviting her to this year.
Touzani emphasized what it means to her to bring a movie about unconditional love to this prestigious festival.
She thanked the lead actor, Saleh who plays ‘Halim’, for believing in her.
The Palestinian Saleh Bakri said that he has yet to watch the movie. On his challenging character, he said “I gave Halim my body and soul for months, I gave him my all.”
Ayouch took this opportunity to express how proud he is of his wife, “Maryam, I have watched you build your carrier brick by brick, with a unique style, finesse, and a lot of emotion, The Blue Caftan is the epitome of all of this,” he said.
The producer said that with this movie barriers are falling because of Touzani’s message: that no love is impossible whenever and wherever.
In an interview with Hespress EN, said that what she felt was very strong because what she wanted to tell through this film has reached the audience, “which is very touching for me as a filmmaker.”
This is a movie about conditional love, said Touzani explaining that she only makes movies about things that touch her, and have a meaning for her.
Touzani hopes that the audiences’ main take from her feature film is that love knows no boundaries.
“One should be free to love however they want, whenever they want and however they want.”
Touzani repeated that love is the most beautiful thing in the world at the end of the day.
The producer told Hespress EN that this film is a big thing for him, as a producer, as a husband, and as a film lover.
He says that the movie has a lot of subtlety and sobriety, which according to him is something that a lot of people didn’t expect or accept.
Just like Touzani, he was taken aback by the audience’s reaction, saying that they testified with their emotions on everything that the movie represents.
The power of cinema to Ayouch lies in going inside people, diving inside their souls and publicizing their hidden beliefs, and giving them some courage through movies.
On casting Belgium actress Loubna Azabal twice in Touzani’s films despite criticizing her accent, Ayocuh reminded that in the golden age of Italian cinema, or even France and the US, “For most directors accent is not a question, the point is are you good as an actor, are you capable of being a character?”
Loubna worked on her accent, said Ayouch, as well as Saleh.
Saleh Bakri told Hespress EN that the Moroccan accent was not a challenge; his dream is to speak all of the different Arabic accents and master them because of how diverse they are.
Being directed by Maryam, Saleh said that directing is all about attitude, and about how we treat others, the gender of the director doesn’t change anything to the Palestinian actor.
Working with such a sensitive and creative and talented director was a great opportunity, said Bakri.
He takes great pride in being in a movie that speaks of love and freedom in this world.
As an individual, as an actor, and as a Palestinian, Saleh’s dream is to break free.
In his own words, “To me, this film is another step toward the freedom that I dream of.
The film got a standing ovation from FIFM’s audience and the international jury.
It tells the story of a middle-aged tailor and his wife who find their relationship turned upside down by the arrival of a handsome new apprentice.
The opening sequence set the tone, it showed the main character touching a blue caftan, which plays a huge role in the three main characters’ life throughout the whole movie.
Maryam directed a dance scene in the movie as well as in her first, ‘Adam’. The dancing in her movies always signifies moments that change the trajectory of the characters’ life
Not only that she directed the film, Touzani wrote the script with the help of Ayouch.
The film has various taboo subjects displayed through realistic directing mimicking human points of view through the three main characters’ eyes: Mina, Halim, and Youssef, played by Loybna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, and Ayoub Missioui.
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