Oscars: the director of a film addressing homosexuality wants a "healthy" debate in Morocco

Europe 1 with AFP 11:25 a.m., December 28, 2022

Pre-selected for the Oscars, a Moroccan film tackling homosexuality,

"can contribute to creating a healthy and necessary debate" on this question which divides Morocco, considers its director, Maryam Touzani, in an interview with AFP.

"The symbolism is beautiful and strong"

His second feature film tells the story of Halim and Mina, a close-knit and uneventful couple who live with a heavy secret: the husband's homosexuality.

The film, Moroccan candidate for the Oscars, was selected last week among the 15 feature films pre-selected in the "Best Foreign Film" category of the prestigious American competition.

"It's a huge honor to be able to represent Morocco and wear the country's colors at this stage of the competition," Touzani told AFP.

"The fact that my film represents Morocco is a step forward. The symbolism is beautiful and strong. This reflects a desire for openness and dialogue," says the director.

This progress is illustrated, according to her, by the fact that her film was appointed by an official commission, made up of film professionals, to represent Morocco at the Oscars.

"My film can contribute to a healthy debate"

A bold choice in a country where homosexuality, a largely taboo subject in a conservative society, divides public opinion and remains punishable by six months to three years in prison, according to the penal code.

"It hurts and pains me to see people (from the LGBT+ community) live in hiding, in fear and that the expression of their love is stifled, denied and judged," laments the 42-year-old director.  

"My film can contribute to creating a healthy, necessary and salutary debate on this question", she hopes.

It is in the medina of Salé, a town neighboring the capital Rabat, that the life of Mina and Halim - played by Belgian actress Lubna Azabal and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri - changes with the arrival of a young apprentice. in their workshop for making caftans (traditional Moroccan dresses).  

"It is by changing mentalities that laws can evolve"

The rapprochement between Youssef (played by Moroccan actor Ayoub Missioui) and his master tailor embarks them, along with Mina, on a new and plural experience of love.

"We often tend to put labels on love stories, but my deep desire was to tell them without passing judgment", explains Maryam Touzani who won the international critics' prize for her film at the Cannes festival. 

In the magic of fiction as in bitter reality, the director firmly believes that "mentalities must change".

And "it is by changing mentalities that the laws can evolve. I think that we cannot condemn love", she adds.

Homosexuality still penalized in Morocco

In Morocco, homosexuality is certainly penalised, but it is relatively less repressed than in other countries in the region, and prosecutions are not systematic.

"The freedom to love belongs to us", already defended the filmmaker to AFP in November on the sidelines of the Marrakech International Film Festival where her feature film received the jury prize.

The other facet of the film is the promotion of the artisanal making of the caftan, a garment traditionally worn on special occasions in Morocco.

"The film also explores the love of a profession, that of the maalem (master tailor in the Moroccan Arabic dialect) which is tending to disappear. The evolution of the story takes place in parallel with the making of the caftan", he explains. -she.

Le Bleu du caftan

is the second film representing Morocco to be shortlisted for the Oscars after

by Franco-Moroccan Roschdy Zem.