Cinema Releases - The Blue Caftan

The Blue Caftan

May 5th 2023

The Blue Caftan is built around an emotional triangle between a middle-aged couple and a younger man. Set in the medina of the Moroccan town Salé, Mina and her husband Halim run a small shop selling traditional caftans, but the arrival of a handsome new apprentice, Youssef, stirs problems when Halim realises his attraction to him.

The Blue Caftan won the FIPRESCI critics' prize for the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes 2022 and was Morocco's entry for the 2023 Oscars.

122 mins / BBFC 12A

London Film Festival: 14/10 Curzon Soho 15/10 Odeon Luxe West End, Film Africa 30/10 Rich Mix,Cine Lumiere Nov 4 and 11
Cork Film Festival Nov 11, Afrika Eye at Watershed Bristol Nov 11, Leeds Film Festival Nov 10.11,15, Cinecity at Depot Lewes Nov 18.
Preview and Q&A's with Maryam Touzani from Wed 3rd May Fhamtini? Festival;Prince Charles Cinema, Thu 4th May Curzon Bloomsbury, Fri 5th Q&A at The Garden Cinema part of Mukhrihat:Arab Women Filmmakers & part of Celebating Queer Cinema, and Sat 6th May Watershed Cinema

Week commencing 5 May

Curzon Soho	99 Shaftesbury Ave	London W1D 5DY	08719 642838	all week
Curzon Mayfair	38 Curzon Street	London W1J 7TY	08719 642838	all week
The Garden Cinema	39-41 Parker St	London WC2B 5PQ	020 3369 5008719 64283800	all week
Arthouse Crouch End	159 Tottenham Lane	London N8 9BT	020 8245 3099	all week
Curzon Bloomsbury	Brunswick Centre	London WC1N 1AW	08719 642838	all week
Cine Lumiere	17 Queensberry Place	London SW7 2DT	020 7871 3515	all week
ICA Cinema	The Mall	London SW1Y 1BN	020 7930 3647	all week
Curzon Camden	Arches N7-N14 Hawley Wharf	London BW1 8QD	08719 642838	all week
BFI Southbank	Belvedere Rd	London SE1 8XT	020 7928 3232	all week
Wimbledon Curzon	2nd Floor, The Broadway	London SW19 1RE	08719 642838	all week
The Castle Cinema	64-66 Brooksby's Walk, Hackney	London E9 6DA		all week
Barbican Cinema	Silk St	London WC2Y 8DS	020 7638 4141	all week
Curzon Oxford	Westgate Shopping Centre	Oxford OX1 1 NZ	08719 642838	all week
Warwick Arts Centre	University of Warwick	Coventry CV4 7AL	024 7649 6000	all week
Canterbury Curzon Westgate	Westgate Hall Rd	Canterbury CT1 2BT	08719 642838	all week
Curzon Sheffield	16 George St	Sheffield S1 2PF	08719 642838	all week
IFI	6 Eustace St, Temple Bar	Dublin 2	01 679 3477	all week
Glasgow Film Theatre	12 Rose St	Glasgow G3 6RB	0141 332 6535	all week
Watershed	1 Canon's Road	Bristol BS1 5TX	0117 927 5100	all week
Showroom	Paternoster Square	Sheffield S1 2BX	0114 275 7727	all week
HOME	2 Tony Wilson Place	Manchester M15 4FN	0161 200 1500	all week
Tyneside	10-12 Pilgrim St	Newcastle NE1 6QG	0191 227 5500	all week
Depot	Pinwell Rd	Lewes BN7 2JS	01273 525354	all week
Broadway	14-18 Broad St	Nottingham NB1 3AL	0115 952 6611	all week

BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Week commencing 12 May

The Garden Cinema	39-41 Parker St	London WC2B 5PQ	020 3369 5000	all week
Curzon Bloomsbury	Brunswick Centre	London WC1N 1AW	08719 642838	all week
ICA Cinema	The Mall	London SW1Y 1BN	020 7930 3647	all week
Cine Lumiere	17 Queensberry Place	London SW7 2DT	020 7871 3515	12,14 May
The Castle Cinema	64-66 Brooksby's Walk, Hackney	London E9 6DA		all week
Curzon Soho	99 Shaftesbury Ave	London W1D 5DY	08719 642838	12,14,16/5
Arthouse Crouch End	159 Tottenham Lane	London N8 9BT	020 8245 3099	12-13,15-16/5
BFI Southbank	Belvedere Rd	London SE1 8XT	020 7928 3232	14-15, 17-18/5
Lexi	194b Chamberlayne Rd	London NW10 3JU	020 3011 5523	all week
Riverside	101 Queen Caroline St	London W6 9BN	020 8237 1000
JW3	341-351 Finchley Rd	London NW3 6ET	020 7433 8988	14-18 May
QFT	20 University Square	Belfast BT7 1PA	028 9097 1097	all week
Mockingbird Cinema	The Custard Factory, Gibb St	Deritend, Birmingham B9 4AA	0121 820 0439	all week
Curzon Camden	Hawley Wharf, NW1 8QD	London NW1 8QD	08719 642838	all week
Curzon Mayfair	38 Curzon Street	London W1J 7TY	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Hoxton	55 Pitfield St	London N1 6BU	08719 642838	all week
Depot	Pinwell Rd	Lewes BN7 2JS	01273 525354	12,14,17/5
HOME	2 Tony Wilson Place	Manchester M15 4FN	0161 200 1500	all week
Tyneside	10-12 Pilgrim St	Newcastle NE1 6QG	0191 227 5500	12,15,17/5
Storyhouse	Hunter St	Chester CH1 2AR	01244 409 113	all wk not 14th
Curzon Aldgate	2 Canter Way	London E1 8PS	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Victoria	58 Victoria St	London SW1 6QW	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Kingston	Bentall Centre Wood St	Kingston upon Thames KT1 1TP	08719 642838	17th only
Wimbledon Curzon	2nd Floor, 23 The Broadway	London SW19 1RE	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Canterbury	Westgate Hall Rd	Canterbury CT1 2BT	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Colchester	19 Queen St	Colchester CO1 2PH	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Knutsford	3 Toft Rd	Knutsford WA16 OPE	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Oxford	Westgate Shopping Centre	Oxford OX1 1NZ	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Richmond	3 Water Lane	Richmond TW9 1TJ	08719 642838	17th only
Sheffield Curzon	16 George St	Sheffield S1 2PF	08719 642838	17th only
Curzon Ripon		Ripon	08719 642838	17th only

BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Week commencing 19 May

The Garden Cinema	39-41 Parker St	London WC2B 5PQ	020 3369 5000	all week
Curzon Bloomsbury	Brunswick Centre	London WC1N 1AW	08719 642838	all week
Cine Lumiere	17 Queensbury Place	London SW7 2DT	020 7871 3515	19-20,22 May
Phoenix	4 Midland St	Leicester LE1 1TG	0116 242 2800	all week
Eden Court	Bishops Rd	Inverness IV3 5SA	01463 234234	all week
Ultimate Picture Palace	Jeune St Cowley Rd	Oxford OX4 1BN	01865 245288	19/23/25 May
King St Cinema	Corn Exchange, King St	Ipswich IP1 1DH		19-21 & 23-24 May
Aldeburgh Cinema	51 High St	Aldeburgh IP15 5AU	01728 454884	all week (not Tue)
Kiln Theatre	269 Kilburn Lane	London NW6 7JR	020 7328 1000	1-20 & 24-25 May
Kino	3 Lion St	Rye TN31 7LB	01797 226 293	all week
Cromarty Cinema	Cromarty	Cromarty IV11 8XZ		19th only
Hebden Bridge Picturehouse	New Rd	Hebden Bridge HX7 8AD	01422 842 807	19,21,23,25 May

Curzon Home Cinema
BFI Player

Week commencing 26 May

The Garden Cinema	39-41 Parker St	London WC2B 5PQ	020 3369 5000	31st & 1st
Curzon Bloomsbury	Brunswick Centre	London WC1N 1AW	08719 642838	all week
Cine Lumiere	17 Queensberry Place	London SW7 2DT	020 7871 3515	31/5-1/6
ICA Cinema	The Mall	London SW1Y 1BN	020 7930 3647	28/5, 1/6
Chapter	Market Rd	Cardiff CF5 1QE	029 2030 4400	all week
Courtyard	Edgar St	Hereford HR4 9JR	01432 340 555	26,27th & 30th
Guildhall	23 Eastgate St	Gloucester GL1 1NS	01452 503050	26,30,31 May
Dukes	Moor Lane	Lancaster LA1 1QE	011524 598 500	31st only
Exeter Phoenix	Gandy St	Exeter EX4 3LS	01392 667080	27,28,30,31 May

BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Week commencing 2 June

DCA	152 Nethergate	Dundee DD1 4EA	01382 432 444	all week
MK Gallery	900 Midsommer Blvd	Milton Keynes MK9 3QA	01908 676900	2nd 4th & 6th
Chichester Cinema	New Park Rd	Chichester PO19 7XY	01243 786 650	2nd only
Firstsite	Lewis Gardens High St	Colchester CO1 1JH	01206713 700	2nd & 7th
Gulbenkian	Univ of Kent	Canterbury CT2 7NB	01227 769075	3rd Jun only
Filmhouse	Derngate	Northampton NN1 1TU	01604 624811	4th only
South Hill Park	Ringmead	Bracknell RG12 7PA	01344 4484 123	5th & 6th only
Curzon Bloomsbury	Brunswick Centre	London WC1N 1AW	08719 6428383	3rd & 8th only
Cine Lumière	17 Queensberry Place	London SW7 2DW	020 7871 3515	31st & 1st

BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Week commencing 9 June

Kinoculture	9 Arthur St	Oswestry SY11 1JN	01691 238 167	14th only
King St Cinema	King St	Ipswich IPI 1DH	01473 433 100	12,14,15th only
BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Week commencing 16 June

ICA Cinema	The Mall	London SW1Y 1BN	020 7930 3647	16,18,20 June
Pavilion Theatre	Marine Road	Dun Loaghaire	01 231 2929	19th Jun only
Pavilion Arts Centre	Saint John's Rd	Buxton SK17 6BE	01691 238 167	19th Jun only
Norden Farm Centre for Arts	Altwood Rd	Maidenhead SL6 4PF	01628 788997	20 & 21st Jun
BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Week commencing 23 June

Vue Cinema Hull (SAFAR)	Princes Dock St	Hull HU1 2PQ		29th Jun only
ICA Cinema	The Mall	London SW1Y 1BN	020 7930 3647	28 June
BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

From July/August onwards

Barbican Cinema SAFAR	Silk St	London EC2Y 8DS	020 7638 8891	8th July only
Midland Arts Centre SAFAR	Cannon Hill Park	Birmingham B12 9QH	0121 446 3232	8th July only
Plymouth Arts Centre (SAFAR)				7/8 July
No 8 Arts Centre	8 High St	Pershore WR10 1BG	01386 555 4888	10th Aug only
Kirkgate Centre	Kirkgate Centre	Cockermouth CA13 9PJ	01900 829 966	7th & 9th Aug
BFI Player
Curzon Home Cinema

Maryam Touzani Director

Filmography Selected

Born in Tangier, Morocco, in 1980, Maryam Touzani spent her childhood in her native city before pursuing a university degree in journalism, in London. Passionate about writing, she moved back to her country after her studies and worked as a journalist, specialising in North African cinema. Soon, she felt the urge to express herself though her own films.

In 2008, she wrote and directed a documentary for the first National Women’s Day in Morocco, an important date for the country, followed by a number of other documentaries. When they slept (2012), her first short fiction, travelled around the world at festivals, winning a total of seventeen awards.

In 2015, her second short fiction, AYA GOES TO THE BEACH, continued on the same path, winning fifteen awards worldwide. Through film director Nabil Ayouch’s 'MUCH LOVED' (2015), which opened at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival, she took her experience further, working on the development of the script and participating on the film set at various levels, closely working with the director and actresses. Soon after, she co-wrote the feature film RAZZIA with Nabil Ayouch, which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and represented Morocco at the Academy Awards. In RAZZIA, in which she also played the part of Salima, one of the main characters, she found herself on the other side of the camera for the first time.

ADAM marked Maryam Touzani’s feature film directing debut, and after premiering in Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard competition, and obtained 30 awards around the world, and sold to over 20 countries. ADAM was also Morocco’s Official Selection for the Oscars 2020 race in the best Foreign Film Category.

In 2022, Maryam Touzani returned to the Cannes Film Festival with her second feature “THE BLUE CAFTAN" selected at Un Certain Regard section, where it won the FIPRESCI award.

2022	Director/Writer	THE BLUE CAFTAN
2021	Co-Writer	CASABLANCA BEATS
2019	Director/Writer	ADAM
2017	Co-Writer	RAZZIA
2015	Director/Writer	AYA GOES TO THE BEACH (short)
2014	Director/Writer	MUCH LOVED (short)
2012	Director/Writer	WHEN THEY SLEPT (short)

★★★★
"Tugging the heartstrings with expert finesse, it is richly satisfying, with a deep commitment to aesthetic pleasure and craft, and to love and joy against the severity of dogma. A handcrafted pleasure indeed."
Jonathan Romney, The Financial Times

★★★★
"A hugely compassionate and emotionally satisfying movie. Maryam Touzani has put together a gentle, complex film: a love story between a gay man and his wife."
Cath Clarke, The Guardian

"A tender gay love story full of beauty...This movie is wonderfully emblematic of both the pains and the joys of building something to last.
Maryam Touzani films with a tender, suggestive eye for the slow and careful process of this tailoring, using these lyrical images as potent metaphors for the patience, beauty, and formality of this hetero-patriarchal world."
Christina Newland, The i paper

★★★★
"A stunning portrayal of marital sacrifice and devotion. And the ending hits with a wallop."
Kevin Mahler, The Times

★★★★
"It's a gentle piece of Arabic-languagee stortytelling, one that softy, slowly enfolds the audience rather than propels them on a journey."
Wendy Ide,The Observer

★★★★
"Love pervades this Moroccan drama"
Edward Porter, The Sunday Times

“Hand-stitched with loving care, Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan is an elegant artisanal film that would be misrepresented by calling it obvious awards-season material. This Moroccan melodrama is clearly the sort of picture that’s likely to chime with people who don’t always gravitate towards foreign-language cinema. “This beautifully textured Moroccan drama is a superbly acted and emotionally resonant offering…Overall, the film is very much a plea for tolerance and a protest against gender-determined boundaries…a quiet but forceful snub to the system.”
Jonathan Romney, Screen International

“Overwhelmingly tender…a powerful vision of love and bravery. Appropriately enough, 'The Blue Caftan' is full of elegantly woven narrative and emotional threads…A nuanced portrayal of unconditional love and acceptance at its most radical."
Chris Shields, Sight & Sound

★★★★
“There is a lot about intimacy, sacrifice and love to be found in the delicate, subtle nuances of Maryam Touzani’s deeply affecting second feature.
Intimacy in its purest, most palpable form...It’s Azabal’s exceptional portrait of Mina…that emerges as the film’s beating heart."
Marina Ashioti, Little White Lies

★★★★★
"Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain (2005) meets Ingmar Bergman’s Cries and Whisper (1972), with a touch of Arab female sensibility. This is a movie so powerful that it is guaranteed to stay with you for a long time. A real powerhouse drama guaranteed to move even the most homophobic and sexist of viewers. Moroccan director Maryam Touzani succeeds in creating a film that’s profound and respectful of both its male and also of its female characters.
“This is a film about love and compassion. The three leads are extremely good, but it is Azabal that stands in the skin of the pallid and scrawny Mina. “
Victor Fraga, D Movies

★★★★
"Sensually shot and subtly acted by its impressive cast, Touzani's non-judgmental film quietly subverts expectations in order to challenge social conservatism."
Total Films

"Maryam Touzani's drama is elegant and restrained, treating its characters with the same tenderness and respect that Halim, a master craftsman, treats his fabrics with. It's also a terrific showcase for its two leads, Saleh Bakri...and Lubna Azabal."
Alex Denney, Another Magazine

★★★★
"Behold, The Blue Caftan, a heart-wrenching, Salé-set drama written, directed, and stitched together by Touzani."
Nick Chen, Dazed Digital Magazine

★★★★
"Maryam Touzani's handsome The Blue Caftan (Oscar shortlisted from Morocco in the Internatioanl Feature Film category)...weaves a web as diaphonous as the stitching on fine cloth."
Anne-Katrin Titze, Eye for Film

★★★★
"A heartwarming, unique, exceptional work, The Blue Caftan is among the best in international film."
Catherine Sedgwick, The Upcoming

★★★★
"Visual pleasures are woven into the rich dramatic fabric of a film which wears its heart-broken implications lightly, and to devastating effect...balances the devastating effects of prejudice against the redemptive succour of love."
Benjamin Poole, The Movie Waffler

★★★★
"Clever, beautiful, tragic film considers how good people face life-suffocating choices because of others' issues.
Touzani is a film-maker with plenty to say and has a brilliant way of saying it. Her next project is eagerly awaited."
Dan Carrier, Camden New Journal/Islington Tribune/West End Extra

★★★★
"One to be cherished for a wide variety of commendable reasons, some artistic and cinematic, some much more specifically human."
Jeremy Clarke, Jeremy Processing

"There's something downright lustful about the opening scenes of 'The Blue Caftan,'...it's clear right away that this Moroccan drama from Maryam Touzani...has something to say aobut desire...Touzani's film becomes an ode to the many kinds of love that persist, even in an unforgiving world.'
Devika Girish, The New York Times

“The slow-burn yet richly emotional drama should land attention by virtue of the relative paucity of queer films in Maghreb cinema alone. But this is compelling storytelling…The way 'The Blue Caftan' comes into play in a conclusion that marks the movie’s sole use of non-diegetic music is just beautiful. The same goes for the brief final shot, a simple image that speaks volumes with the same elegant economy that characterizes this stirring love story.”
David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter

"An exquistely tender tribut to love in its purest expression, "The Blue Caftan" doesn't romanticise the complications and conflicts facing its two soulmates, and precisely because of that it feels like an utterly honest tale of romance."
Carlos Agullar, Los Angeles Times

“A tender Moroccan drama…Also a subtle portrait of a marriage, it slowly unveils the issues of its characters with an empathetic, admiring gaze."
Anna Smith, DEADLINE

“A moving, poetic, and beautifully acted story of love, death and fear… one of the most impressive titles at this year’s (Cannes Film Festival) edition. This story of love, death and fear tugs at the viewers’ heartstrings through dry dialogue, a controlled mise-en-scène and excellent performances. All in all, Touzani’s sophomore feature is a brave film made with love and simplicity.”
Davide Abbatescianni, Cineuropa

"Phantom Thread’ Meets ‘Before Midnight’ in Stunning Three-Hander
Working with an intricacy that rivals that of the craftsman at the center of her film, the auteur crafts a surprisingly warm story that subverts expectations at almost every turn. Remarkably sweet and life affirming. Anchored by three remarkable performances and a beautiful script that never wastes a line, Maryam Touzani made a film that oozes love from almost every frame."
Christian Zilko IndieWire

“How Touzani ultimately utilizes the blue caftan for resonance is nothing short of brilliant, and the delicacy she imbues this story with is nothing short of potent. The stops she makes along the way, fully exploring these characters with grace, is assured. A nuanced and empathetic tale about sexuality and mortality…whenever you think you know where Maryam Touzani’s entrancing drama “The Blue Caftan” is going, she blindsides you with a fierce emotional wallop.”
Robert Daniels, rogerebert.com

Deftly explores the complexities of interpersonal and romantic relationships. Maryam Touzani (“Adam”) crafts her latest film, “The Blue Caftan,” with as delicate a hand as its lead, artisan Halim (Saleh Bakri, “Costa Brava, Lebanon”), does in sewing his ceremonial caftans.”
Marya E Gates, THE PLAYLIST

“'Adam' director Maryam Touzani takes on the subject of homosexuality in Morocco, casting the great Lubna Azabal …'The Blue Caftan'dares to imagine a world where there’s room for both appreciation of the old ways and room to evolve.”
Peter Debruge, Variety

Top ^

CAST

Mina		Lubna Azabal
Halim		Saleh Bakri
Youssef		Ayoub Massioui

CREW

Director		Maryam Touzani
Writer		Maryam Touzani
in collaboration with		Nabil Ayouch
Producer		Nabil Ayouch
Co-Producer		Amine Benjelloun
Co-Producers		Sebastien Schelenz, Mikkel Jersin,
		Eva Jakobson, Katrin Pors
Director of Photography		Virginie Surdej
Camera operator		Adil Ayoub
Editor		Nicolas Rumpl
Casting Director		Rajae El Jaouhari
Sound		Nassim El Mounabbih
Costumes		Rafika Benmaimoun
Set Decorator		Rachid El Youssfi
First Assistant Director		Zakaria Atifi
Co-production		Ali n'Productions,
		Velvet Films, Snowglobe

		122 minutes
		France, Morocco, Belgium, Denmark 2022
		Arabic with English subtitles/1.85
		BBFC cert 12A