The whole world will soon be watching Tangier born director Maryam Touzani’s feature film Adam. Even before the film received a standing ovation at the world premiere in Cannes, it won an audience award at the Angouleme French Film Festival (August 2019). Adam was also nominated as Best International Feature for the Oscars 2020. With a vision that the striking Moroccan female-written and directed drama would move audiences, Film Boutique, a Berlin-based independent company acquired the international sales rights.
As of September 10, 2019, the picture has been confirmed to appear in Japan (Longride) Spain (Karma Films) Italy (Movies Inspired), Australia (Sharmill), Sweden (Fokets Bio), Brazil (Arteplex) and Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (Mirada), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), the Czech Republic (Artcam) and Bulgaria (ArtFest).
Furthermore, Ad Vitam and Cinéart, two major distributors in the arthouse business will also release Adam in France and the BENELUX region. The global appeal of this moving picture is exciting for Moroccans and female activists.
Adam shines a spotlight on the taboo subject of single unmarried mothers in Morocco. “In a country like mine, it’s the biggest shame for a woman to have a child out of wedlock. She doesn’t want to disappoint her parents so she cannot tell the truth, ” said Touzani. Adam was inspired by true-life events the director learned about in her hometown, Tangier.
Adam is the 15th Moroccan film to be submitted for an Oscar Nominee since 1977; only Roschdy Zem’s Omar Killed Me was nominated. Regardless of whether Adam makes the final stage, the film has already had a strong global presence. It is slated to appear in theaters on January 2020.