Moroccan-American Director Exposes Sexual Harassment in Moroccan Film Industry

Speaking about the sexual harassment that actresses, and in particular in cinema in Morocco, would be victims of, the Moroccan director and actor Hicham Hajji denounces the behavior of certain actors in the Moroccan cultural world. He cites the example of young actresses who are offered auditions at 9 p.m., directly at the director’s home, reports Aujourd’hui le Maroc.

"How many of these young women find themselves deprived of real auditions when they say no? And also, it goes bigger than that in financing, production, etc. I’ve heard so many stories after seeing the series ’The Morning Show’ on Apple TV, an educational series that denounces the bad behavior of men towards women, I said to myself that we had to tell people to watch this series, and above all, that this kind of behavior must stop," he said.

Already, the difficulties in cinema in Morocco are great. When we see a Moroccan film, in 95% of cases, it is in Darija; which, in the director’s opinion, limits its export to the world. In plain language, the Moroccan language is a major obstacle to export. For the national case, the lack of cinemas affects the life of the film. "We have excellent Moroccan actors; I don’t think that’s the problem, but they prefer to make films that will lead them to the festival circuit. And generally, who says festival, says auteur film, and therefore, ’non-commercial’," he insisted.

"Redemption Day" is the director’s biggest adventure where he has gone all out on a crazy dream. All his personal and professional entourage thought it was impossible. "I’ll spare you the pile of comments I’ve heard," Hicham Hajji said.