Adam (2019)

Movie
Original title	Adam
Country of production	Morocco , France , Belgium
original language	Arabic
Publishing year	2019
length	98 minutes
Rod
Director	Maryam Touzani
script	Maryam Touzani
production	Nabil Ayouch
camera	Virginie Surdej
cut	Julie Naas
occupation
	Lubna Azabal : Abla; Nisrin Erradi : Samia; Douae Belkhaouda : Warda; Hasna Tamtaoui : Rkia; Aziz Hattab;

Adam ( Arabic آدم, DMG Ādam ) is a film drama directed by Maryam Touzani , which premiered on May 20, 2019 as part of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and is due to hit French cinemas on January 29, 2020.

action

The widow Abla lives with her little daughter Warda in Casablanca, where she sells homemade bread and all kinds of homemade, traditional Moroccan pastries from her kitchen out of her window every day. When, from her window, she sees a young, pregnant and unmarried woman named Samia sleeping in a doorway, who is looking for a place to live and work in the city and who is overwhelmed by the thought of having to give birth to a child without a father alone, Abla opens her home to the stranger. She could stay a few nights, but since they are both overwhelmed with their respective situations, Samia stays longer. The young woman rejects any emotional bond with her unborn child and is determined to put it up for adoption after delivery and then return to her village.

production

Maryam Touzani at the premiere for the film in Cannes in May 2019

Directed by Maryam Touzani , who also wrote the script. As a producer of the film acted Touzanis husband Nabil Ayouch as cinematographer Virginie Surdej .

Lubna Azabal took on the role of the widow Abla, Nisrin Erradi plays the young Samia, who is taken in by her. Douae Belkhaouda plays Abla's daughter Warda.

The film premiered on May 20, 2019 as part of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival . In July 2019 he was presented at the Galway Film Fleadh, in August 2019 at the Melbourne International Film Festival. In September 2019 the film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Contemporary World Cinema section. In early November 2019 it was shown at the Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad”. A screening at the AFI Film Festival also took place in November 2019 . It is slated to hit French cinemas on January 29, 2020.

reception

Reviews

Variety's Jay Weissberg writes that the film, inspired in part by Maryam Touzani's own pregnancy, is a love letter to motherhood. The two actresses Lubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi received wordless moments in their roles from Abla and Samia, in which they can prove their whole register of emotions, from slight fear to great joy. Touzani knows exactly when and how to press the right buttons, and the viewer can lean back and relax. Virginie Surdej's camera work makes Abla's house appear as a refuge as well as a prison. The close-ups, in which the characters are shown doing everyday work, such as kneading dough and preparing food, lend them a certain sensuality that becomes more pronounced when more and more daylight penetrates the previously shady apartment during the course of the film.

Awards

Adam was submitted by Morocco as an entry for the 2020 Academy Awards in the category Best International Film , but was not shortlisted. Further awards and nominations follow.

Cairo International Film Festival 2019