Nabil Ayouch

Halim has been married to Mina for a long time, with whom he runs a traditional caftan store in the medina (old town) of Salé, Morocco. The couple has always lived with Halim's secret – his homosexuality – about which he has learned to keep quiet. However, Mina's illness and the arrival of a young apprentice upsets this balance. United in their love, each will help the other face his fears.

Halim has been married to Mina for a long time, with whom he runs a traditional caftan store in the medina (old town) of Salé, Morocco. The couple has always lived with Halim's secret – his homosexuality – about which he has learned to keep quiet. However, Mina's illness and the arrival of a young apprentice upsets this balance. United in their love, each will help the other face his fears.

A realistic drama set in the cultural center in Casablanca’s Sidi Moumen neighborhood, a poor suburb that became infamous in 2003 due to a terrorist attack perpetrated by locals.

A realistic drama set in the cultural center in Casablanca’s Sidi Moumen neighborhood, a poor suburb that became infamous in 2003 due to a terrorist attack perpetrated by locals.

Abla runs a modest local bakery from her home in Casablanca where she lives alone with her 8-year-old daughter Warda. Their routine of housework and homework is interrupted one day by a knock on the door. It is Samia, a young woman looking for a job and a roof over her head. The little girl is immediately taken with the newcomer, but her mother initially refuses to allow a pregnant stranger into their home. Gradually, however, Abla's resolve softens and Samia's arrival begins to offer all of them the prospect of a new life.

Morocco, from the past to the present. Five people who are connected to each other – Abdallah, Salima, Joe, Hakim, and Inès – without realizing it. Different faces, different struggles, but one same breath. One city, Casablanca as a fragment of reality, as the myth of a film entirely shot in Hollywood studios, which reality has come back to claim.

Morocco, from the past to the present. Five people who are connected to each other – Abdallah, Salima, Joe, Hakim, and Inès – without realizing it. Different faces, different struggles, but one same breath. One city, Casablanca as a fragment of reality, as the myth of a film entirely shot in Hollywood studios, which reality has come back to claim.

ZWAJ EL WAQT explores the themes of love and marriage in Morocco. Told through the testimonies of diverse couples, it tackles the issues of relationships, social media, control and sexuality in a conservative society that still struggles to discuss freely about those topics.

An Iranian family survives the shah and the ayatollah and moves to France. This story follows the family through it all. Despite the politics, revolution, prison, beatings, assassinations and suicides this is a comedy.

A social drama about four marginalized prostitutes in Marrakech and their complex relations with their families and society at large.

A social drama about four marginalized prostitutes in Marrakech and their complex relations with their families and society at large.

Members of a television crew stumble across the story of an old man whose tragic tale dates back to 1981 during upheavals in Morocco, where he was arrested. Released 30 years later in 2011, he is now trying to come to terms with a new reality. The TV crew decides to report his journey as he sets off on a quest to find his family and his place in this new world.

The film follows two brothers over the course of a decade. While they begin as kids in search of thrills in the sprawling slums of Morocco’s Sidi Moumen, we witness their gradual, and ultimately shocking, radicalisation.

The film follows two brothers over the course of a decade. While they begin as kids in search of thrills in the sprawling slums of Morocco’s Sidi Moumen, we witness their gradual, and ultimately shocking, radicalisation.

Film from Nabil Ayouch

Film from Nabil Ayouch

A Brooklyn postal worker follows her Egyptian boyfriend to Cairo where she takes belly-dancing lessons from a legendary but disgraced Egyptian dancer.

A musician whose career never took off decides one day to start a real career as an artist.

Kamel Raoui, a young police inspector in Tanger, investigates the murder of drug-dealer Hakim Tahiri. The victim's mistress Touria, just living for her fatally-ill younger brother Pipo, is considered the main suspect, so Kamel learns more and more about their hard life circumstances. During the observation, the sexually-confused Kamel falls in love with the young woman, but realizes the imminence for Touria and Pipo too late.

Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.

Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.

Ali, Kwita, Omar and Boubker are street kids. The daily dose of glue sniffing represents their only escape from reality. Since they left Dib and his gang, they have been living on the portside of Casablanca. They live in constant fear of Dib's revenge. Ali wants to become a sailor - when he was living with his mother, a prostitute, he used to listen to a fairy tale about the sailor who discovered the miracle island with two suns. Instead of finding his island in the dream, Ali and his friends are confronted with Dib's gang. Matters are getting serious.

A young woman attending a conference in Tangier with her husband is kidnapped and raped, but rebuilds her relationship with her husband on a trip to the south of Morocco.

A young woman attending a conference in Tangier with her husband is kidnapped and raped, but rebuilds her relationship with her husband on a trip to the south of Morocco.

In 1992, Nabil Ayouch directed Les Pierres bleues du désert, a first short film with Jamel Debbouze which tells the history of a convinced young man that there are large blue stones in the desert.