DUBAI: The Cannes Film Festival announced this week that Moroccan director and screenwriter Maryam Touzani will be part of the jury at the 76th event to take place from May 16 to 27.
Touzani, director of the highly acclaimed film “The Blue Caftan,” will be joined by Swedish director Ruben Ostlund, French actor Denis Menochet, British-Zambian screenwriter Rungano Nyoni, US actress Brie Larson, US filmmaker Paul Dano, Afghani director Atiq Rahimi, Argentinian writer Damian Szifron and French filmmaker Julia Ducournau.
Touzani began her career as a film critic but soon wanted to express her vision in a different way and stepped behind the camera to direct two noteworthy short films, “Quand ils dorment” and “Aya va a la plage.”
Touzani poses with the Jury Prize during the closing ceremony of the 19th Marrakech International Film Festival. (AFP)
She then collaborated with French-Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch on his film “Much Loved.”
In 2019, she directed her first feature film, “Adam,” selected for the Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival. It was also shortlisted for the Oscars.
She then collaborated once again with Ayouch, with whom she co-wrote “Razzia,” a film in which she also starred, and “Casablanca Beats,” which also competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021.
(From L) Belgian actress Lubna Azabal, Moroccan actor Ayoub Missioui, Moroccan film director Maryam Touzani and Moroccan producer Nabil Ayouch attend a photocall for the film “The Blue Caftan,” during the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. (AFP)
In 2022, she returned to the festival as a director with “The Blue Caftan,” which was selected for the Un Certain Regard award and was shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.
The film follows a husband and wife duo who run a handmade caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas while their marriage hides a secret that neither wants to confront.
Touzani is currently working on her first novel and her next feature film.
