Tangier and the World: Juanita Narboni (2005)

Two elements are crucial to contextualize Farida Benlyazid’s creative output during this period: the digital disruption and the repercussions of 9.11.01 on the Arab world and on Morocco in particular. The chapter proceeds from the perspective of one year (2006) through three flashbacks: (a) the making of the film La vida perra de Juanita Narboni (2005), Farida’s adaptation for the screen of Angel Vásquez’s eponymous novel, set in her home-city, Tangier. The analysis includes large excerpts from an interview with her first assistant; (b) The War on TV (2006), a short made in collaboration with al Gandouzi and Mounir Abbar, in response to the bombardment of Lebanon; (c) Benlyazid’s feminism expressed in both her article “Women’s Cinema” (2006) and in her political activism to push for a true reform the Family Code or mudawana (2004). Benlyazid then returns to filmmaking: she focuses on the youth as she collaborates with Dominique Caubet on the documentary Casanayda (2007), on the music and arts festival L’Boulevard in Casablanca which promotes the use of Darija; and on the repercussions of Family Secret (2009).