Experiencing Interruptions?

THE WOMEN IN BLOCK J

Three patients and a nurse from a women's psychiatric ward in Casablanca, Morocco, confront their suffering and forge a strong friendship, escaping in occasional nocturnal escapades that slowly help to bring them back to life.

  • Mohamed NADIF
    Director
  • Mohamed NADIF
    Writer
  • Assma EL HADRAMI
    Writer
  • Mohamed NADIF
    Producer
  • Rachida SAADI
    Producer
  • Assma EL HADRAMI
    Key Cast
    "AMAL"
  • Jalila TALEMSI
    Key Cast
    "HALIMA"
  • Imane MECHRAFI
    Key Cast
    "IBTISSAM"
  • Rim FETHI
    Key Cast
    "RIM"
  • Fatima ATTIF
    Key Cast
    "ZAKIA"
  • NISRIN ERRADI
    Key Cast
    "FATIMA"
  • Avishay BENAZRA
    Key Cast
    "KAMAL"
  • Mohamed NADIF
    Key Cast
    "DR SAADI"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 36 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 28, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    654,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Morocco
  • Country of Filming:
    Morocco
  • Language:
    Arabic, French
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 41th Cairo International Film Festival
    Cairo
    Egypt
    November 27, 2019
    Word premiere
    Official selection
  • 18th Marrakech International Film Festival
    Marrakech
    Morocco
    December 2, 2019
    Moroccan premiere
    Panorama selection
Director Biography - Mohamed NADIF

Mohamed NADIF began his artistic career as a theater actor and director. He initially worked as an actor in several films before directing his own projects. He has written and directed three short films: "THE YOUNG LADY AND THE ELEVATOR" (2005), " THE YOUNG LADY AND THE TEACHER" (2007) and " THE YOUNG LADY AND THE SCHOOL" (2009). THE WOMEN IN BLOCK J is his second feature film after ANDALUSIA, MY LOVE!, which was released in 2012.

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Director Statement

After "Andalousie, mon amour !", a black comedy centered on the theme of emigration in which most of the principal characters were men, "The Women In Block J" is a film about women. This choice arose out of an observation: the one of Moroccan society insisting on advancing without its women. I had the impression the country was just limping forward with only half its population.

Amal, Ibtissam and Rim are three inmates in Block J, a ward in a psychiatric institute exclusively for women suffering from acute depression. They are women whose lives have been crippled by the intense scrutiny of Moroccan society, forced to conform to unnatural formats. They find themselves so confined under the yoke of the retrograde conventions of the Moroccan family that they reach the boiling point and are interned in a psychiatric clinic.

Each woman is from a different social-economic environment. They share the same room. For reasons pertinent to her personal story, each one is a victim of negligence or damaging social conventions that have harmed her, losing the gusto of living to such an extent that she could actually be in danger.

They are the ones who tell their stories. It’s their day-to-day struggles I aspire, without kid gloves, to bring to the screen with humanity, hope and honest emotion. Through this approach, every woman will find something to identify with and every man will measure his part of responsibility.