It is probably the Moroccan FILM of the year. Bleu du Caftan by Maryam Touzani, screened Monday, November 14 at the Palais des Congrès as part of the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM), moved the public.
“Le Bleu du Caftan and above all for me a film about love. It’s a film about love with all its facets, it’s a film about love in the broadest sense, the purest of the term, love between human beings, the love of a job , that of Maalem, a profession that is unfortunately disappearing, and that is something that breaks my heart, “said director Maryam Touzani, Monday in Marrakech during the screening of her second feature film, Caftan blue.
Produced in part by her husband, Nabil Ayoub (Ali n’Productions), Bleu du Caftan is a film about “the freedom to love whoever you want, however you want“, confided the director. It tells the story of Halim (Saleh Bakri) and Mina (Lubna Azabal), a couple who run a traditional caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas.
In order to meet customer demands, they hire Youssef (Ayoub Missioui), a talented apprentice who devotes himself entirely to learning embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Gradually, Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of the young man. Very moving, the film made the public cry during its screening in Marrakech.
In her speech during the screening of her film at the Palais des Congrès in Marrakech, Maryam Touzani also thanked her husband and her producer for all the support that has given her for her first and second feature film.
“Speaking of love, I also want to talk about Nabil. My love to me, my producer too, and to say thank you to him for having been there for me, from the beginning, for having supported me from my first short film, for having understood what I wanted to say to through my film, once again, through the Bleu du Caftan, for having been there at all times to support me“.
The Moroccan director also thanked her actor, Saleh Bakri, who was also present at the screening, for his collaboration and dedication which made this film a great success.
“I also want to say a word about Saleh Bakri whom I discovered precisely, humanly and artistically through this film. Thank you for having given so much, for having been in this quest for the truth of the character as you have been. It’s a gift you gave me, so thank you“, she expressed.
In addition to its presentation at the 19th edition of the FIFM as part of its participation in the Official Competition, Le Bleu du Caftan was presented for the first time in “Un Certain Regard”, a section derived from the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, and won the International Critics Prize (FIPRESCI).
