Adam

In Adam, we find ourselves in Casablanca, where we meet the heavily pregnant Samia wandering the streets looking for work and shelter. She knocks on the door of single mother and widow Abla, who owns a bakery. At first Abla is of little help to Samia, but luckily her eight-year-old daughter Warda wants it differently, and eventually Abla has no choice but to shelter Samia in the last days leading up to the birth.

The world-famous actress Loubna Azabal (Abla), also known from Sofia, and young Nisrin Erradi (Samia) complement each other in an excellent way, making the relation between the characters both moving and believable as it develops. Maryam Touzani’s directorial debut shines with confidence, and criticizes the patriarchal norms of the Moroccan society, like many of the films coming out of the country during recent years. The message seeps from the screen, like the aroma of the sweets the two women create in the bakery.

Johanne Svendsen Rognlien

Director

Maryam Touzani (b. 1980) is a filmmaker and journalist from Morocco. Her feature debut was the multi-award-winning Adam in 2019, screened at Arab Film Days in 2020. She has a close collaboration with her director husband Nabil Ayouch, and contributed to the screenplays of his films Casablanca Beats (2021) and Razzia (2017), in addition to acting in the latter film.