Maryam Touzani (born 17 September 1980) is a Moroccan

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. She is best known as the director of the critically acclaimed film ''

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

(2019)'', Morocco's entry for the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, and '' The Blue Caftan'' (2022), the country's submission for the same award for the 95th Academy Awards.

Early life

Touzani was born in 1980 in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

. In 2003, she obtained a master's degree in media communication and journalism in London. She began her career as a journalist with a focus on cinema.

Career

At first, Touzani worked as a screenwriter while directing short and documentary films. In 2011, she made the short ''Quand ils dorment''. It won 17 prizes, including that of the Special Jury at the Huesca International Film Festival, the festival qualifying for the Oscars. In 2014, she made her debut documentary ''Sous Ma Peau Vieille''. The film, which discussed prostitution in Morocco, became very popular in Morocco. With the success of this documentary, she turned it into a feature film with the title ''

Much Loved ''Much Loved'' (also known as ''Zin Li Fik'') is a 2015 French-Moroccan drama film directed by Nabil Ayouch about the prostitution scene in Marrakesh. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The film ...

'', which was released in 2015. The film was directed by her husband Nabil Ayouch, while she wrote the script. In late 2015, Touzani made her second short ''Aya va à la plage''. The film revolves around the exploitation of small children as domestic workers. In 2017, Touzani wrote the film '' Razzia'' with her husband. She also played the lead role of Salima in the film. Then, in 2019, Touzani directed her maiden feature film, ''

''. The film was selected for the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in the section 'Un Certain Regard'. Then later at the 12th

Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur The ''Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur'' (FIFF) is a festival dedicated to French speaking films in Namur, Belgium created in 1986, reflecting francophone diversity, from Europe, Canada and Africa. History The festival is cr ...

of Angoulême. It was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the

92nd Academy Awards The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 2019 and took place on February 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:00 ...

, but it was not nominated. In the same year, Touzani became a member of the Academy of Oscars. In 2022, Touzani's film '' The Blue Caftan'' was awarded the Un Certain Regard

FIPRESCI Prize The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

at the

2022 Cannes Film Festival The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival is an upcoming film festival scheduled to take place from 17 to 28 May 2022. The festival will see a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film '' Top Gun: Maverick'' is due to premiere at the festival. The off ...

Favorite films

In 2022, Touzani participated in the ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' film polls of that year. It is held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, by asking contemporary directors to select ten films of their choice.https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time/all-voters/maryam-touzani Touzani selections were: * ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogniti ...

'' (1953) * ''

Bicycle Thieves ''Bicycle Thieves'' ( it, Ladri di biciclette; sometimes known in the United States as ''The Bicycle Thief'') is a 1948 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It follows the story of a poor father searching in post-World War ...

'' (1948) * ''

Una giornata particolare ''A Special Day'' ( it, Una giornata particolare) is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Ettore Scola and starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and John Vernon. Set in Rome in 1938, its narrative follows a woman and her neighbor who stay ...

'' (1977) * ''

Ali Zaoua ''Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets'' is a 2000 Moroccan crime drama film that tells the story of several homeless boys living in Casablanca. It was awarded in the 2000 Stockholm Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and in the 2000 Amiens In ...

'' (2000) * ''

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally ref ...

'' (1966) * ''

The Kid The Kid or The Kids may refer to: Fictional characters * The kid (''Blood Meridian''), a character in Cormac McCarthy's 1985 novel ''Blood Meridian'' * The Kid (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film series * The Kid (''The Stand'' ...

'' (1921) * ''

In the Mood for Love ''In the Mood for Love'' is a 2000 romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Wong Kar-wai. A co-production between Hong Kong and France, it portrays a man ( Tony Leung) and a woman (Maggie Cheung) whose spouses have an affair toget ...

'' (2000) * ''

La Règle du jeu ''The Rules of the Game'' (original French title: ''La règle du jeu'') is a 1939 French satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jean Renoir. The ensemble cast includes Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien Car ...

'' (1939) * ''

Mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

'' (1975) * '' Modern Times'' (1936)

Personal life

Touzani is married to fellow Moroccan filmmaker

Nabil Ayouch Nabil Ayouch (born 1 April 1969) is a Franco-Moroccan television and film director, producer, and writer. His films have screened at international film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival. Early life H ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Touzani, Maryam Living people Moroccan film actresses Moroccan television actresses Moroccan women journalists 1968 births Moroccan television personalities Moroccan women film directors