By Tarik ElBarakah and Sara Gomez
Rabat – The night unfolds as it usually does for these four women. After putting on makeup and changing into their skimpy dresses, the girls head out to find their next prey.
They hail a taxi and step in, and then “the boss” begins lecturing her disciples over Khaliji music in the background. “Today I want you to show your asses, your legs and lips, understood?” The taxi driver looks over, shocked. “What are you looking at? I am a whore and I am vulgar. What do you expect me to say?”
This shocking portrayal of four prostitutes in the city of Marrakech is the plotline of Nabil Ayouch’s newest film. “Much Loved (Zine li Fik)” is a social drama that portrays the daily life of four marginalized women prostitutes in the city of Marrakech, Randa, Nouha, Soukaina, and Hlima.
In an earlier interview with American magazine “Variety”, Ayouch said he began researching the topic 18 months ago, initially interviewing more than 100 prostitutes in Casablanca, Rabat and Tangier, talking about their personal backgrounds and what led them onto prostitution.
Although the film is based on the real life of prostitutes in Morocco, it is still appalling to the general public. After two clips of the film were posted to YouTube over the weekend, the controversy over the vulgarity of the film began.
In the same taxi scene, the head prostitute implores God for a nice handsome Saudi with a small [penis] and a lot of money so she can have a nice night. In the second clip, the prostitutes are shown dancing at a party in front of men from the Gulf countries. In a tight black dress that barely covers her flesh, one of the girls competes with the others for the attention of the men by dancing seductively in the middle of the dance floor. The “panel of judges” watches the girls eagerly as they make their pick.
Nabil Ayouch’s film “Much Loved” was picked to feature in the lineup of the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival (AKA la Quinzaine des Réalisateurs).
The two clips have already come under fire, generating over 1600 dislikes from viewers on YouTube over the course of three days. In contrast, the clips only have 500 likes combined.
In the comments section below the videos, there is a polarized debate between those praising the film’s accurate portrayal of the prostitute’s life and those against its crudeness. The latter claims that the film goes against the ethics of the Moroccan society.
By Tarik ElBarakah and Sara Gomez
