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Rabat – Moroccan film director and screenwriter Maryam Touzani has been named to the 76th Cannes Film Festival jury, marking a watershed moment for Moroccan female directors.
The festival unveiled the list of jury members today, featuring internationally acclaimed actors, authors, screenwriters, and directors.
The jury of the 76th Festival de Cannes includes French actor Denis Menochet, British-Zambian screenwriter and director Rungano Nyoni, Academy Award-winning American actress and Marvel’s first ever female-led superhero movie star Brie Larson, as well as American actor and screenwriter Paul Dan.
The festival’s jury also includes French-Afghan author Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian film director and writer Damian Szifron, and French film director and screenwriter Julia Ducournau.
Meanwhile, award-winning Swedish filmmaker Ruben Ostlund serves as the jury’s president.
The jury will select one of the 21 films in contention for the Palme d’Or, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival.
The winners will be announced on May 27 at the festival’s closing ceremony, which will be live-streamed by France Télévisions in France and Brut internationally. The ceremony will be followed by the festival’s last screening: “Elemental,” an animated film by Peter Sohn.
Touzani’s most recent movie, “Le Bleu du Caftan,” has been widely acclaimed, making international headlines and stirring up controversy in Morocco.
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Co-produced by fellow Moroccan filmmaker and Touzani’s husband, Nabil Ayouch, and Moroccan actor Amine Benjelloun, “Le Bleu du Caftan” tells the story of a couple – Halim and Mina – who run a caftan shop in the old medina of Sale.
The film received criticism for discussing the topic of homosexuality. The movie’s main character, Halim, explores his homosexuality after falling in love with a worker at the couple’s traditional caftan store.
Le Bleu du Caftan is the first Moroccan movie to receive the FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes. The Moroccan film was also shortlisted for the Oscars, becoming the only Arab and African film to feature in the Oscars shortlist.
Touzani started her career as a film critic, but she soon moved behind the camera after realizing that she wanted to use a different medium to express her ideas. She directed two short films, including, “Quand ils dorment” (When They’re Sleeping) and “Aya va à la plage” (Aya Goes to the Beach).
Later, she worked with Nabil Ayouch on the critically acclaimed “Much Loved,” and in 2019, she directed her first feature film, “Adam.”
Touzani would later continue to work with her husband — co-writing and starring in the 2017 movie “Razzia,” as well as co-writing the feature film “Casablanca Beats,” which was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
