Farida’s Great Halqa Throughout Morocco and Beyond

Context: The age-old tradition of the popular halqa and its revival in postcolonial Morocco. Benlyazid uses the traditional story-telling technique in three narratives: her first halqa is a play, Help Thyself, Heaven Will Help Thee (1996–1997), which she writes and produces as part of a public health campaign to lower pregnant women’s fatalities. The second one is the adaptation on screen of Keïd ensa/The Wiles of Women (1999), and old Andalusian tale she heard as a child. The third one is an activist citizen’s film: Casablanca, Casablanca (2002). The chapter contains large excerpts of Benlyazid’s play, a transcultural analysis of Keïd ensa, and a quick analysis of an adaptation from novel to screen.