Seattle International Film Festival: Everybody Loves Touda

Want a discount on your ticket? Use code ARABISH51 for $3 when purchasing tickets!

In the latest film from Nabil Ayouch (Horses of God, SIFF 2014) co-written with his wife, director Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan, SIFF 2023), Touda dreams of being a sheikha, or traditional Moroccan folk singer. More than that, she is determined to be one, which is fortunate because the road ahead is a rocky one. A single mother with a young son to support, she sings at parties and in bars in her provincial town. But these opportunities are limited and fraught with risk, as her male audience’s “love” often shades into something more proprietary and threatening. She sets her sights on Casablanca and, leaving her son with her parents and ignoring the disapproval of her conservative brother, she heads to the big city. There Touda meets an older musician, a violinist who recognizes her ambition and her potential, and becomes a sort of mentor. With his help, she sets about to master the aita, a Moroccan musical genre rooted in poetry about the many struggles of life, from the personal to the political. As her singing improves, she can command higher fees and a more elite audience. But in a culture where female performers are as often eroticized and stigmatized as venerated, what does it really mean to be loved?

Other Showtimes: