Moroccan Director Maryam Touzani Hopes for ‘Healthy’ Debate on LGBTQ+ Rights

Rabat – Moroccan film director Maryam Touzani hopes that her latest film The Blue Caftan, or Le Bleu du Caftan, would help start a “healthy, much-needed debate” regarding LGBTQ+ rights in Morocco. The director believes that it is necessary to challenge societal taboos.

In an interview with news outlet AFP, Touzani said: “I hope the film can contribute to nurturing a healthy, much-needed debate … It pains me to see people living hidden away, in fear, with their love suppressed, denied, and judged,” France 24 reported.

Touzani’s film tells the story of married couple Halim and Mina, who own a traditional caftan shop in the old medina of Sale, near the Moroccan capital of Rabat. While Halim and Mina seem like a normal, happy couple, they hide a secret, Halim’s unorthodox sexual orientation.

The husband managed to hide his sexuality for a while, but Mina’s illness and the arrival of Youssef, a young, handsome apprentice, at the shop disturbed this balance. Halim starts developing feelings for Youssef, which he failed to keep hidden.

Talking about the message behind her film, Touzani said: “We often tend to put labels on love stories, but I really wanted to tell them without passing judgment.”

Morocco is a Muslim and conservative country where same-sex relationships are strictly forbidden, as well as punishable by law.

“It’s by changing mentalities that laws can evolve,” indicated Touzani, stressing that achieving legal reform is possible by opening the debate on LGBTQ+ rights. “I believe love shouldn’t be criminalized,” the Moroccan filmmaker emphasized.

Released in March 2022, The Blue Caftan, received immense criticism for its controversial content. However, it garnered strong international approval for shedding light on a taboo topic in Moroccan society.

In addition to tackling the theme of sexuality, the Blue Caftan, as its name suggests, “explores the love of a profession, that of the master tailor, which is disappearing,” Touzani added.

In August, the film won two prizes at the Angouleme Francophone Film Festival in France, as it received the best director award and leading character Saleh Bakri won the best actor award.

In addition, Touzani’s work featured in the Oscars shortlist, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on December 28.

Commenting on her film’s nomination, Touzani said: “the fact that my film is representing Morocco is a step forward in itself.”

Despite Morocco’s stance on homosexuality, activists and human rights organizations in Morocco and elsewhere have made several attempts to normalize and decriminalize same-sex relations in the country. But the government has rejected all calls for reforms on laws to decriminalize same-sex relations.