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20TH edition NOVEMBER 24 TO DECEMBER 2, 2023

Women’s Wiles (Keid ensa)

Farida Benlyazid

Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia, France

Director's Biography

A true pioneer of Moroccan cinema, Farida Benlyazid has to her credit many accomplishments that have made her a central figure in the nation’s cinema. She is the first Moroccan woman to produce a film, an accomplished screenwriter who has written several classics such as Poupées de roseaux (1981), Badis (1989) and Looking for My Wife’s Husband (1995) and the director of a body of work that addresses issues of spirituality, the status of women in society and the quest for justice and truth. A free and independent artist, Benlyazid has paved the way for many Moroccan women directors who have looked to the director of A Door to the Sky (1989) and Women’s Wiles (1999) as an inspiration and a model.

1999
90
Darija
Tue 15/20h15/Place Jemaa El Fna

In the presence of the film crew

The daughter of a rich merchant, Lalla Aïcha has always had everything she wanted. As she has no mother, her nurse, Dada Mbarka, allows her every indulgence. One day, while watering her basil plants, she meets the King’s son on the terrace—and her life is turned upside down. Is it love? Most certainly—but this spoiled child does not relish being made mock of, and responds to the prince’s contemptuous manner in kind. With oratorical jousting and incredible actions, Lalla puts the prince through every emotion, arousing his interest until she wins his esteem. Women’s Wiles is a clever, spicy tale of the ages-old struggle of the sexes—which, like any self-respecting love story, comes to a happy ending.

Director Farida Benlyazid

Producer Farida Benlyazid

Screenwriter Farida Benlyazid

Cinematographer Serge Palatsi

Production Designer Mohamed Raïs, Lamal Menebhi

Editor Kahéna Attia

Sound Faouzi Thabet

Rachid El Ouali, Samia Akariou, Fatma Bensaïdane, Abderrahim Bayga, Amina Alaoui

Production Company Tingitania Films, Waka Films, Touza Productions, Cepheide Production

Pays

Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia, France

année

1999

durée

90

langue

Darija