THE BLUE CAFTAN
California Premiere
HEART | WORLD
Morocco 2022, 124 min, Director: Maryam Touzani
In Salé, Morocco, Halim (Saleh Bakri, Costa Brava, Lebanon) and his ailing wife, Mina (Lubna Azabal, Adam), own and operate a made-to-measure dress shop. Halim handcrafts caftans with an attention to detail and an eye toward durability prized by his customers. Similarly, Maryam Touzani’s film dives richly and intimately into the lives of its characters when Halim and Mina, facing a backlog of orders, take on young apprentice Youssef (Ayoub Missioui). As Mina becomes increasingly bedridden, a developing connection between the two men creates internal conflict for the mild-mannered tailor. Avoiding heated melodrama, Touzani instead sews together her story of the marital bond and an unusual romantic triangle with intimacy and great tenderness. The Blue Caftan shows the complexities and profundities of enduring love with a deeply stirring resolution and a trio of expert performances. —Rod Armstrong
In Arabic with English subtitles