Shortlisted for the Oscars, a Moroccan film addressing homosexuality, The blue of the caftan, “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. 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 fifteen 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.said M.me Touzani to 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. »
This progress is illustrated, according to her, by the fact that her film was designated by an official commission, made up of film professionals, to represent Morocco at the Oscars. 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 me and hurts me to see people [de la communauté LGBT +] live hidden, in fear, and let the expression of their love be stifled, denied and judgedlaments the 42-year-old director. My film can contribute to creating a healthy, necessary and salutary debate on this question. »
“We cannot condemn love”
It is in the medina of Salé, a neighboring town of 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). 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 fiction as in reality, the director strongly believes that “Mindsets must change”. And “it is by changing mentalities that laws can evolve”she adds: “I don’t think we can condemn love. »
“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 his feature film received the jury prize. In Morocco, homosexuality is certainly penalised, but it is relatively less repressed than in other countries of the region and prosecutions are not systematic.
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 maalem [maître tailleur en dialecte arabe marocain], which tends to disappear. The evolution of the story is done in parallel with the making of the caftan »she explains. The blue of the caftan is the second film representing Morocco to be shortlisted for the Oscars after Omar killed me, by Franco-Moroccan Roschdy Zem. The final list of nominated films will be revealed on January 24.