Nabil Ayouch (born 1 April 1969) is a Franco-Moroccan television and film director, producer, and writer. His films have screened at international film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and Montreal World Film Festival.

Early life

He was born in 1969 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, to a Moroccan father, and a French mother of Tunisian-Jewish descent. His brother is fellow director Hicham Ayouch. After the divorce of his parents, he spent a large part of his childhood in the suburb of Sarcelles, visiting

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

in the summers. Ayouch cites discovering international cinema at the local cultural centre, Forum des Cholettes, as inspiring his filmmaking career.

Film career

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, he ended up settling in

, 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 ''Mektoub'' is a 1997 French-Moroccan drama film directed by Nabil Ayouch. The film was selected as the Moroccan entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 71st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, A ...

'', which represented Morocco at the Oscars. He also directed the feature films ''Une Minute de soleil en moins'' (2003) and ''

Whatever Lola Wants "Whatever Lola Wants" is a popular song, sometimes rendered as "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets". The music and words were written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross for the 1955 musical play ''Damn Yankees''. The song is sung to Joe Hardy by Lol ...

'' (2008), produced by Pathé. In 1999, he created a production company called Ali n'Productions to aid aspiring young directors establish their careers. He won the Ecumenical Award in 2000 in the Montreal World Film Festival for his film '' Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets''. Ayouch is set to produce the French-Moroccan thriller film ''Mirages''. His 2012 film ''

Horses of God ''Horses of God'' (french: Les chevaux de Dieu, ar, يا خيل الله, translit. Ya khayl Allah) is 2012 Moroccan drama film about the 2003 Casablanca bombings. It was directed by Nabil Ayouch, and based on the novel ''The Stars of Si ...

'' is based on Mahi Binebine’s novel ''The Stars of Sidi Moumen.'' In ''Horses of God,'' Ayouch explores the radicalization that can occur in poverty and extreme

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

, alluding to the

2003 Casablanca Bombings The 2003 Casablanca bombings were a series of suicide bombings on May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, Morocco. The attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history. Forty-five people were killed in the attacks (33 victims and 12 su ...

. The film competed in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

2012 Cannes Film Festival The 65th Cannes Film Festival was held from 16 to 27 May 2012. Italian film director Nanni Moretti was the President of the Jury for the main competition and British actor Tim Roth was the President of the Jury for the Un Certain Regard sectio ...

. It was also Morocco's submission for the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

(held in February 2013). In 2021, Ayouch's film ''Casablanca Beats'' was selected for the 74th Cannes Film Festival competition. He is a member of the

Academy of Motion Pictures The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

, the Académie des Césars, and the Arab Film Academy.

Controversy

Nabil Ayouch's film ''

Much Loved ''Much Loved'' (also known as ''Zin Li Fik'') is a 2015 French-Moroccan drama film directed by Nabil Ayouch about the prostitution scene in Marrakesh. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The film ...

'', which takes place in

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

and includes scenes of prostitutes servicing wealthy Saudi clients, was banned in 2015 by Morocco's communications minister Mustapha Khalfi to “protect freedom of expression, which absolutely does not mean freedom of absurdity and destruction in cinema.” Ayouch reportedly experienced death threats after the film was screened at Cannes Film Festival.

Personal life

Nabil Ayouch works and lives in

. He is married to a fellow Moroccan filmmaker and actress Maryam Touzani.

Filmography

As director

* ''Les Pierres bleues du désert'' (1992) * ''

'' (1997) * ''Ali Zaoua, prince de la rue'' (2000) a.k.a. '' Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets'' (USA) * ''Une minute de soleil en moins'' (2003) (TV) a.k.a. ''A Minute of Sun Less'' (International: English title) * ''

'' (2007) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2015) * '' Razzia'' (2017) * ''

Casablanca Beats ''Casablanca Beats'' (; french: Haut et Fort, lit=high and loud) 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 b ...

'' (2021)

As writer

* ''Les Pierres bleues du désert'' (1992) * ''

'' (2007) co-written with Jane Hawksley

As producer

* 2000: '' Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets'' (associate producer) * 2006: ''Tiwarga'' (TV Movie) * 2006: ''Heart Edges'' * 2008: ''Houti Houta'' (TV Movie) * 2010: ''L'Equipe'' (The Team) (TV Series) * 2010: ''Al ferka'' (TV Series) * 2010: ''3ichk al baroud 2010'' (TV Movie) * 2010: ''Mirages'' * 2011: ''My Land'' (Documentary) * 2011: ''Zinat Al Hayat'' (TV Series) (executive producer) * 2012: ''Quand ils dorment'' (Short) * 2012: ''Horses of God'' * 2013: ''Une bonne leçon'' (TV Movie) (line producer: Morocco) * 2013: ''C'est eux les chiens...'' * 2015: ''Much Loved'' * 2015: ''Aji-Bi'' (Documentary) * 2015: ''All Three of Us'' (line producer: Morocco) * 2015: ''Aya Goes to the Beach'' (Short) * 2017: ''Pluie de sueur'' * 2017: ''Zwaj El Waqt'' (TV Movie documentary) * 2019: ''Wadrari'' (Documentary) * 2019: ''

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

Decorations

* Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayouch, Nabil 1969 births Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres French film directors French film producers 20th-century French Jews French male screenwriters French people of Moroccan descent French people of Tunisian-Jewish descent French screenwriters Living people Moroccan film directors Moroccan film producers Moroccan screenwriters Moroccan people of Tunisian descent Moroccan writers