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Notes
1 Examples of Moroccan films touching on the subject of sexuality and prostitution include Un Amour à Casablanca (1991) by Abdelkader Lâagta, Casablanca by Night (2003) by Mustapha Derkaoui, Les Yeux (2003) by Narjiss Nejjar, Les Oubliées de l’histoire (2009) by Hassan ben Jelloun, Laila Marrakchi’s Marock (2005), Hamid Zoughi’s Kheboucha (2010), and Maryam Touzani’s Adam (2019). For an interesting discussion of space and gender in Moroccan films, see Abdellah el-Boubekri (Citation2021). For an informative review of Moroccan films dealing with the subjects of prostitution, sexuality, and women, see L. Peralta Garcia and V. Saiz-Echezarreta (Citation2018).
2 Ruth Grosrichard (Citation2015). “En mai, suite à sa présentation à Cannes, des extraits du film piratés et publiés sur YouTube avaient provoqué au Maroc un déferlement de condamnations haineuses et de fatwas appelant au meurtre, au nom des valeurs sacrées du royaume. Résultat: le film y a été interdit.”
3 For an informative presentation of the issue, see the documentary prepared by the French channel TV5 Monde, “Maroc: Nouvel Eldorado des pédophiles?” August 13, 2013. https://information.tv5monde.com/afrique/maroc-nouvel-eldorado-des-pedophiles-4423. Also consult, Cherigui, Nadjet (Citation2007).
4 “These women are very inspiring by themselves. They are brave and full of humanity—I wanted to portray that on screen. When I decided to go deeply into this matter, I interviewed women all over Morocco. I learned about their personal stories, their backgrounds, what led them to prostitution, their responsibilities to their families. It was a long process” (Tiffany Pritchard Citation2015).
5 The urban legend of Aisha Kandisha varies according to regions and stories. Some say she is a beautiful woman who seduces and then kills men. She appears to them as a beautiful woman with hooves of a goat. Others claim Aisha Kandisha is a woman resistant who used to seduce and kill foreign soldiers as an act of resistance.
6 Translation from the Arabic text by Mustafa Khattab.
7 Examples of such films which have approached the subjects of sexuality, nudity, and prostitution and still managed to circumvent the agents of censorship include Marock (2006) by Leila Marrakchi, Amours Voilées (2009) by Aziz Salmy, Un film (2011) by Mohamed Achouar, L’amante du Rif (2012) by Narjiss Nejjar, and Le Bleu du caftan (2022) by Mariam Touzani. For a detailed discussion of some of these films, see Jean Zaganiaris’s article, “CE QUE MONTRER LE SEXE AU MAROC VEUT DIRE.”
8 Mullins argues in his discussion that these writers’ escape to Tangiers has not only allowed them to live their homosexuality freely, but it has also enabled their creative literary energies (Greg A. Mullins Citation2002).
9 Aicha Akalay et Ayla Mrabet, “Enquête. Les Marocaines vues par les Arabes.” In TELQUEL.ma, le 17 avril 2012. https://telquel.ma/2012/04/17/enquete-les-marocaines-vues-par-les-arabes_438_2321
10 Translation mine.
11 Les Oubliées de l’histoire (2010) by Hassan Benjelloun is a film that looks at the issue of prostitution within the context of global sex trafficking. In search of a better life abroad, three young Moroccan women, Yamna, Amal and Nawal find themselves in the middle of a transnational prostitution ring in Belgium.
12 This same setting is reprised in episode 14, entitled ‘Marrakech, the last trip’, of a Saudi series Chir Chat broadcast in Ramadan in 2018 where a group of young Moroccan women parade in front of three Saudi actors who are in Marrakech to conclude a Zawaj al-Moutaa (temporary marriage) while an old Moroccan man is bargaining the price (MEE Citation2018).
13 For other Orientalist images in the film, see Youssef Ait Kerroum and Khadija Anasse (Citation2022).
14 “Medina, a multicultural place.” https://www.visitmorocco.com/en/discover-morocco/medinas-in-morocco
15 For a very interesting and informative discussion of sex tourism during the colonial period in Morocco, see Jean-Francois Staszak (2015, http://journals.openedition.org/viatourism/424).
16 A prostitute who offers friendship, sometimes love, besides sex, what Wonders and Michalowski call “emotional simulacra” (563).
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Mustapha Hamil
Dr. Mustapha Hamil is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature (English, French, Arabic). He teaches courses on Arabic literature and culture as well as courses on Francophone literature and culture of the Maghreb. His research interests include postcolonial theory, comparative cultural studies, and the questions of identity, exile, and hybridity in immigration discourse.