Following the recent end of the Covid-19 public health emergency, 2023 has been a transitional year for most people, signaling a return to some sort of normalcy. But even the so-called “new normal” has left many struggling to keep their bearings in a world that’s changing at an ever-rapid pace. This limbo state is unsurprisingly reflected in some the year’s best films, which catch characters in a state of in-betweenness as they search for everything from social acceptance and professional stability to sexual liberation and emotional restoration.
Just as characters in many of our favorite films of the year so far have found themselves in the midst of some form of metamorphosis, so, too, have filmmakers been discovering new ways of seeing, whether through stylistic innovation or genre reinvention. Our list includes works that have reconfigured what animated and found footage films can accomplish, as well as challenged our preconceived notions of cinematic structure.
Just as characters in many of our favorite films of the year so far have found themselves in the midst of some form of metamorphosis, so, too, have filmmakers been discovering new ways of seeing, whether through stylistic innovation or genre reinvention. Our list includes works that have reconfigured what animated and found footage films can accomplish, as well as challenged our preconceived notions of cinematic structure.
- 6/27/2023
- by Slant Staff
- Slant Magazine
Halim (Saleh Bakri) and Youssef (Ayoub Missioui) in The Blue Caftan. Maryam Touzani: 'I think that the emotion can be expressed through different little gestures, through glance through very little details that we don't necessarily see' Photo: New Wave The delicate fabric of love is examined from unusual angles in the second feature from Maryam Touzani. The Blue Caftan tells the story of the complex relationship that develops between tailor Halim (Saleh Bakri), his wife Mina (Lubna Azabal) and Youssef (Ayoub Missioui), an apprentice who they take on. Touzani’s film is as delicately worked as one of Halim’s caftans as she takes time to build the characters and their story into a drama full of understanding and hopefulness.
The inspiration for the caftan itself - which we see Halim intricately working on during the course of the film, came from Touzani’s own family.
She says: “I...
The inspiration for the caftan itself - which we see Halim intricately working on during the course of the film, came from Touzani’s own family.
She says: “I...
- 4/30/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Diverse festival notables from Hannah Ha Ha to The Blue Caftan join a spattering of specialty horror titles led by Consecration, and the U.S. theatrical debut of Gaspar Noé’s controversial Irréversible: Straight Cut.
The last is presented by Altered Innocence, whose owner Frank Jaffe spoke with Deadline about why he wanted to give Noe’s unusual 2019 director’s cut — of the Argentinian/French director’s disturbing 2002 film Irreversible — a release Stateside. “It’s a film that needs to be seen. Or made available,” he said. StudioCanal approached him twice. “They said, ‘No one is brave enough to take on this film. Will you?’” And “there is an audience for it…Tickets are selling.”
Jaffe said he first watched Irreversible, or tried to, via Netflix mail order DVD when he was 14. “My dad made me turn it off halfway through.”
It had a big impact on him. He...
The last is presented by Altered Innocence, whose owner Frank Jaffe spoke with Deadline about why he wanted to give Noe’s unusual 2019 director’s cut — of the Argentinian/French director’s disturbing 2002 film Irreversible — a release Stateside. “It’s a film that needs to be seen. Or made available,” he said. StudioCanal approached him twice. “They said, ‘No one is brave enough to take on this film. Will you?’” And “there is an audience for it…Tickets are selling.”
Jaffe said he first watched Irreversible, or tried to, via Netflix mail order DVD when he was 14. “My dad made me turn it off halfway through.”
It had a big impact on him. He...
- 2/10/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Blue Caftan,” the second feature from Moroccan writer-director Maryam Touzani, is not exactly packed with incident. It is basically a standard triangle drama that has been stretched out to an interminable length.
Halim (Saleh Bakri) and his wife Mina (Lubna Azabal) run a store specializing in caftans in Salé, Morocco and hire an apprentice named Youssef (Ayoub Missioui) to work with them. Halim steals looks at Youssef nearly right away, and Mina sees her husband looking. Touzani trains her camera very closely on her characters and rarely lets in any outside influences; the majority of the movie takes place inside the shop and also a nearby bathhouse where Halim goes to have furtive sex with men.
Touzani’s camera follows Halim and another man to a cubicle at the bathhouse but then cuts after they close the door. Some time later in the film, when we see Halim at...
Halim (Saleh Bakri) and his wife Mina (Lubna Azabal) run a store specializing in caftans in Salé, Morocco and hire an apprentice named Youssef (Ayoub Missioui) to work with them. Halim steals looks at Youssef nearly right away, and Mina sees her husband looking. Touzani trains her camera very closely on her characters and rarely lets in any outside influences; the majority of the movie takes place inside the shop and also a nearby bathhouse where Halim goes to have furtive sex with men.
Touzani’s camera follows Halim and another man to a cubicle at the bathhouse but then cuts after they close the door. Some time later in the film, when we see Halim at...
- 2/10/2023
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Maryam Touzani’s handsome The Blue Caftan (Oscar shortlisted from Morocco in the International Feature Film category) begins with the petrol blue cloth that will become the titular garment. A male hand strokes the silk; we see a yellow measuring tape dangling around the man’s neck. His name is Halim (a superb Saleh Bakri), a maalem, a traditional caftan maker who sells his magnificent, hand-embroidered wares in the Medina in his shop which he runs with wife Mina.
A new apprentice, Youssef (smouldering Ayoub Missioui), seems to be more interested, more eager to learn the craft than the many who came and went before him. It is an old, dying-out profession that produces not simply clothes, but precious objects that take a long time and much expertise to make. We get to witness the process of building one garment throughout and it is mesmerizing to see how...
A new apprentice, Youssef (smouldering Ayoub Missioui), seems to be more interested, more eager to learn the craft than the many who came and went before him. It is an old, dying-out profession that produces not simply clothes, but precious objects that take a long time and much expertise to make. We get to witness the process of building one garment throughout and it is mesmerizing to see how...
- 1/19/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"A caftan must be able to survive the one who wears it." Strand has unveiled the official US trailer for an indie drama from France titled The Blue Caftan, which first premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival last summer. This acclaimed Moroccan film has been playing at tons of festivals: Karlovy Vary, Toronto, Helsinki, Calgary, Zurich, Vancouver, Hamburg, and many more. Halim and Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco's oldest medinas, in the city of Salé (see Google Maps). In order to keep up with all of the demanding customers, they hire Youssef. The talented apprentice shows a passionate dedication in learning the art of embroidery and tailoring from Halim. Slowly Mina realizes how much her husband is moved by the presence of this young man. United in love, each will help the other face their fears. The film stars Lubna Azabal, Saleh Bakri, & Ayoub Missioui.
- 1/10/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Maryam Touzani’s exploration of suppressed homosexuality The Blue Caftan has been submitted as Morocco’s official entry in the Best International Feature Film Oscar category.
The feature debuted in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and sidebar and recently played in Toronto.
Photo Gallery: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri play a husband and wife who run a handmade caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas in the city of Salé. Their marriage hides a secret that neither wants to confront until a young male assistant (Ayoub Missioui) enters their lives.
The Blue Caftan is Touzani’s second feature film after Adam, which dealt with single motherhood, another taboo subject within Moroccan society. That film was the country’s Oscar entry in 2019.
Touzani also has taken writing and producing credits on husband Nabil Ayouch’s features Razzia and Casablanca Beats.
“I’m proud to...
The feature debuted in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and sidebar and recently played in Toronto.
Photo Gallery: Best International Feature Film Oscar Winners
Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri play a husband and wife who run a handmade caftan shop in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas in the city of Salé. Their marriage hides a secret that neither wants to confront until a young male assistant (Ayoub Missioui) enters their lives.
The Blue Caftan is Touzani’s second feature film after Adam, which dealt with single motherhood, another taboo subject within Moroccan society. That film was the country’s Oscar entry in 2019.
Touzani also has taken writing and producing credits on husband Nabil Ayouch’s features Razzia and Casablanca Beats.
“I’m proud to...
- 9/27/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
While the fall festivals continue to launch several high-profile Oscar hopefuls from the U.S., many international contenders are at the mercy of their countries. The Academy requires films to be submitted for the Best International Feature Film category by October 3, but outside of requiring a theatrical release and that the language is at least 50 non-English, the countries can make their own decisions. For some countries known for censoring artists, such as Russia and Iran, that means films critical of their governments or societies don’t stand a chance at making the cut.
Yet this year, several films about sexuality and queerness from the Middle East are on the cusp of overcoming legal and cultural barriers to become their country’s submissions, and they’re all traveling to the Toronto International Film Festival this week. In the past, films with LGBTQ characters in countries that outlaw homosexuality have faced a tough road in Oscar season,...
Yet this year, several films about sexuality and queerness from the Middle East are on the cusp of overcoming legal and cultural barriers to become their country’s submissions, and they’re all traveling to the Toronto International Film Festival this week. In the past, films with LGBTQ characters in countries that outlaw homosexuality have faced a tough road in Oscar season,...
- 9/8/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It’s no secret that Morocco is one of the most homophobic places on Earth, punishing certain acts with prison sentences of up to three years. The secret, as far as Maryam Touzani’s “The Blue Caftan” is concerned, is that its main character is homosexual. The man, Halim (Salem Bakri), is devoted to both his religion and his wife, Mina (“Incendies” star Lubna Azabal). Together they own an old-fashioned garment shop in the town’s medina, where such stories almost certainly exist. Still, it takes equal measures of audacity and sensitivity to portray them on-screen, especially from a woman’s point of view.
Halim works as a maalem, or master tailor, struggling to keep the trade alive. These days, machines accomplish the work that artisans like Halim once did by hand, and apprentices are hard to find. Much of the film is dedicated to this disappearing craft: Touzani (“Adam...
Halim works as a maalem, or master tailor, struggling to keep the trade alive. These days, machines accomplish the work that artisans like Halim once did by hand, and apprentices are hard to find. Much of the film is dedicated to this disappearing craft: Touzani (“Adam...
- 6/5/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
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