'The Blue Caftan' is Touzani's second feature film after 'Adam', which dealt with single motherhood, another taboo subject within Moroccan society.
Morocco has selected Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan as its official entry for the Academy Awards’ international feature category.
The feature debuted in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and sidebar and recently premiered in Toronto.
The film follows Halim and Mina who run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. In order to keep up with demanding customers, they hire a talented young man as an apprentice. Slowly Mina realises how much her husband is moved by his presence. The couple has always lived with Halim’s secret, his homosexuality, which he has learned to keep quiet.
The film is produced by Ali n’ Productions in Morocco, Les Films du Nouveau Monde in France, Velvet in Belgium and Snowglobe in Denmark.
The cast is led by Lubna Azabal (Incendies, Adam) Saleh Bakri (Costa Brava; Lebanon, The Band’s Visit and Salvo) and also includes newcomer Ayoub Messioui.
