Femme écrite

Naïm, a renowned anthropologist, wants to make a film on beautiful Mririda, a Berber poet and courtesan who mesmerizes him. At the brothel where she used to go, Naïm is struck by the beauty, the sensuous tattoos of young prostitute Adjou. He immediately feels bound in his flesh and soul to Adjou, a kind of mirror image to Mririda. Adjou’s brutal murder triggers a police investigation. In his desperate search for truth, Naïm sways between a world of imagination and reality. Lazcen Zinoun is the conductor of a film composed like a five-movement opus framed by tribal rituals and practices like the mysterious, erotic tattooing of women. He sings the hymn of freedom for women to control their own bodies in a society still paralyzed by ancient codes. He films Fatym Layachi’s goddess-like body with the same poetry and lyricism as he does the sexual passion that enflames the lovers.

Directed by Lahcen Zinoun, Femme écrite leans on a strong ensemble — Hatim Abdelghafour, Abdellatif Chaouqi, Abdelkrim Cheddati — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about screen titles of 2012.