What to watch: The Blue Caftan

Written and directed by Maryam Touzani, The Blue Caftan gives us the story of Halim.
Halim and his wife Mina run a traditional caftan store in one of Morocco’s oldest medinas. The arrival of a young apprentice, Youssef, throws their lives into turmoil at a point when Mina is trying to hold everything together.
The film stars Saleh Bakri (Halim), Lubna Azabal (Mina), and Ayoub Massioui (Youssef).
Having been critically acclaimed on the film festival circuit, The Blue Caftan is now receiving a cinema release and it’s worth adding to your watch-list.
Maryam Touzani is an acclaimed filmmaker, and you can sense her confidence in creating these characters and telling this story.
With the Blue Caftan, Touzani delivers a beautifully restrained film, rippling with emotional depth, regrets, and buried desires.
It is a beautifully observed film – moments of intimacy, moments of vulnerability, moments of strength are quietly captured for the camera amidst the richness of everyday life where people live and work and go about their business. We can sense what these characters are struggling with, the choices that they’re making – not everything has to be spoken.