Nabil Ayouch | |
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 | |
| Born | 1 April 1969 Paris, France |
| Nationality | Moroccan |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, producer, and screenwriter |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Notable work | Les Pierres bleues du désert (1992) |
| Spouse | Maryam Touzani |
| Father | Noureddine Ayouch |
Nabil Ayouch (born 1 April 1969) is a Franco-Moroccan television and film director, producer, and writer. His films have been screened at international film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival.
Ayouch was born in 1969 in Paris, to a Moroccan father, Noureddine Ayouch and a French mother of Tunisian-Jewish descent. His brother is fellow director Hicham Ayouch. After his parents' divorce, he spent a large part of his childhood in the suburb of Sarcelles, [1] [2] visiting Casablanca in the summers. [3]
Ayouch cites discovering international cinema at the local cultural center, Forum des Cholettes, as inspiring his filmmaking career. [3]
Ayouch started his career as a scriptwriter and director with the advertising agency Euro-RSCG. In 1992, he directed Les Pierres bleues du désert, a first short film with Jamel Debbouze which tells the history of a young man convinced that there are large blue stones in the desert.
In 1993, Ayourch ended up settling in Casablanca, where he directed two short films, Hertzienne Connexion (1993) and Vendeur de silence (1994), for which he received international recognition.
In 1997, Ayouch directed his first feature film Mektoub , which represented Morocco at the Oscars. He also directed the feature films Une Minute de soleil en moins (2003) and Whatever Lola Wants (2008), produced by Pathé. [4]
In 1999, Ayouch created a production company called Ali n'Productions to aid aspiring young directors in establishing their careers. [1] [5] [4] He won the Ecumenical Award in 2000 in the Montreal World Film Festival for his film Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets . [6] Ayouch is set to produce the French-Moroccan thriller film Mirages. [7]
Ayouch's 2012 film Horses of God is based on Mahi Binebine’s novel The Stars of Sidi Moumen. In Horses of God, Ayouch explores the radicalization that can occur from poverty and extreme machismo, alluding to the 2003 Casablanca bombings. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. [8] [9] It was also Morocco's submission for the 85th Academy Awards (held in February 2013).
In 2021, Ayouch's film Casablanca Beats was selected for the 74th Cannes Film Festival competition. [10]
Ayouch is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures, the Académie des Césars, and the Arab Film Academy. [4]
Ayouch's film Much Loved , which takes place in Marrakesh, caused a stir due to its unsimulated sex scenes especially the scene where Loubna Abidar performed an unsimulated fellatio on a man. [11] The movie was ultimately banned in Morocco. [12]
Ayouch works and lives in Casablanca. [4] He is married to fellow Moroccan filmmaker and actress Maryam Touzani. [13]
Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets is a 2000 Moroccan crime drama film that tells the story of several homeless boys living in Casablanca. It was awarded in the 2000 Stockholm Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival and in the 2000 Amiens International Film Festival.
Mahi Binebine is a Moroccan painter and novelist born in Marrakech in 1959. Binebine has written six novels which have been translated into various languages.
Lubna Azabal is a Belgian actress.
Cinema of Morocco refers to the film industry of Morocco. Aside from Arabic-language films, Moroccan cinema also produces Tamazight-language films. The first film in Morocco was shot by Louis Lumière in 1897. The first three Moroccan feature films were funded between 1968-1969. Most researchers and critics agree that the history of Moroccan cinema started with Hamid Bénani's Wechma (1970), which is recognised as the first cult movie in Moroccan film history, and received critical acclaim on an international scale. Until then films produced in the country were Moroccanised versions of Egyptian melodramas. Other influential Moroccan films include A Thousand and One Hands, which was the first feature length fiction film of the 1970s.
Krishna Levy is a French film score composer. He studied music in USA but lives and works in Paris (France).
Horses of God is 2012 Moroccan drama film about the 2003 Casablanca bombings. It was directed by Nabil Ayouch, and based on the novel The Stars of Sidi Moumen by Moroccan writer Mahi Binebine. The film won several awards, and was Morocco's submission for the 85th Academy Awards.
Ahmed Boulane is a Moroccan film director, producer and screenplay writer. Known as l'enfant terrible du cinéma marocain for his antics with journalists and his fellow filmmakers, he is considered to be one of the most talented directors in Morocco.
Razzia is a 2017 Moroccan drama film directed by Nabil Ayouch. It was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. Razzia is mostly set in Casablanca and characters frequently discuss the 1942 film Casablanca.
Hicham Lasri is a Moroccan comics artist, film director, novelist, producer and screenwriter. He has a special imprint on Moroccan cinema, as his films often deal with topics that are considered taboo in Moroccan society with great boldness.
Amal Ayouch is a Moroccan actress who since the late 1990s has performed in the French language both on stage and, above all, in film. In January 2015, she was honoured with an award at the African Women's Film Festival in Brazzaville. Ayouch has played a leading role in Morocco's Fondation des arts vivants.
Adam is a 2019 Moroccan drama film directed by Maryam Touzani. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.
Maryam Touzani is a Moroccan filmmaker and actress. She is best known as the director of the critically acclaimed film Adam (2019), Morocco's entry for the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, and The Blue Caftan (2022), the country's submission for the same award for the 95th Academy Awards.
Casablanca Beats is a 2021 Moroccan drama film directed by Nabil Ayouch. In June 2021, the film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film was produced by Ali n' Productions. It is reportedly the first Moroccan film to be selected to compete for the Palme d'Or since 1962. The film was shot at Les Etoiles de Sidi Moumen, a cultural centre that director Ayouch co-founded with Mahi Binebine in 2014. It was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.
Une minute de soleil en moins is a drama film directed by French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch and broadcast in 2003. Commissioned by the cultural channel Arte, it is part of the "Masculin/Féminin" collection of films by ten directors.
Anas Basbousi known artistically as Bawss, is a Moroccan actor and rapper. He is best known for his role in Nabil Ayouch's 2021 film Casablanca Beats, which was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
Abdelilah Basbousi is a Moroccan actor. He is best known for his role in Nabil Ayouch's 2021 film Casablanca Beats, which was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival and his the brother of Anas Basbousi the well known actor in the artistic name of Bawss.
Samah Barigou is a Moroccan actress. She is best known for her role in Nabil Ayouch's 2021 film Casablanca Beats, which was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
The Blue Caftan is a 2022 Moroccan Arabic-language drama film directed by Maryam Touzani, and written by Touzani with the collaboration of Nabil Ayouch. It depicts a woman and her closeted gay husband, who run a caftan store in the medina of Salé, Morocco, and hire a young man as an apprentice.
Everybody Loves Touda is a 2024 drama film directed, co-written and co-produced by Nabil Ayouch from a screenplay he wrote with Maryam Touzani. The film stars Nisrin Erradi as a young singer who dreams of becoming a traditional Moroccan folk singer and moving to Casablanca for greater recognition and a better life for her son. It is a co-production between Morocco, France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.
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