Skip to main content
Everybody Loves Touda film image; people dancing

Everybody Loves Touda

Panorama

This event has passed

North American Premiere

Irrepressible Touda (Nisrin Erradi) only dreams of being a Sheikha, a respected traditional Moroccan performer empowered by the lyrics of the fierce female poets who came before her. Inspired by their songs of resistance and emancipation, she performs every evening in provincial bars under the lustful gaze of men. All the while, she sets her sights on the bright lights of Casablanca where she hopes to be recognized as a true artist while also securing a better future for both her son and herself.

Director
Cast

Nisrin Erradi, Joud Chamihy, Jalila Tlemsi, El Moustafa Boutankite, Lahcen Razzougui

Credits
Country of Origin

France/Morocco/Belgium/
Denmark/Netherlands

Year

2024

Language

In Arabic with English subtitles

Film Contact
18+

At International Village

19+

At Fifth Avenue

102 min
Art, Music & Photography Drama Family Relations
Ali n' Productions, Les Films du Nouveau Monde, Velvet Films, Snowglobe, Viking Film, Staer

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Producer

Nabil Ayouch, Amine Benjelloun, Sebastian Schelenz, Katrin Pors, Mikkel Jersin, Eva Jakobsen, Marleen Slot, Elisa Fernanda Pirir

Screenwriter

Nabil Ayouch

Cinematography

Virginie Surdej

Editor

Nicolas Rumpl

Production Design

Eve Martin

Original Music

Flemming Nordkrog

Nabil Ayouch headshot; Everybody Loves Touda director

Nabil Ayouch

Nabil Ayouch, a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and the Cesar Academy, co-founded the Arab Film Academy. His debut short film, Les Pierres Bleues du Desert (1992), introduced Jamel Debouzze. Ayouch’s feature films, including Mektoub (1997) and Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000), represented Morocco at the Oscars. Notable works include Much Loved (2015), banned in Morocco but acclaimed internationally, and The Blue Caftan (2023), which garnered over 50 awards and was shortlisted for the Oscars. He also founded Ali n’ Productions, promoting Moroccan cinema and supporting young talents.

Filmography: Mektoub (1997); Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets (2000); Much Loved (2015); The Blue Caftan (2023)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Familiar Touch

Dir. Sarah Friedland
90 min

A loving portrait of an octogenarian transitioning into an assisted living facility, this award-winning first feature by choreographer Sarah Friedland has a simplicity and warmth that's exceptionally poignant.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Stories of Our Lives

Dir. Jim Chuchu
138 min

Stories of Our Lives (62 mins) documents personal stories of lovers, fighters and rebels and the community histories that characterize the queer experience in Kenya. This is preceded by the touching and resonant 38-minute Nigerian love story, Ìfé.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet film image; man leaning over a sleeping woman

Romeo and Juliet

Dir. Franco Zeffirelli
138 min

Franco Zeffirelli directed one of the most successful and beloved of Shakespeare films, casting teenagers Leonard Whiting and Oliva Hussey as his star-crossed lovers. This month's Premium Pick by Sandy Dowling.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Super Happy Forever

Dir. Kohei Igarashi
94 min

This beguiling film depicts a man’s return to the Japanese seaside town where he met his now-deceased wife five years earlier. He tries to relive the past, and in the film's final section -- a flashback to 2018 -- the audience is afforded that privilege.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Endless Cookie

Dir. Seth Scriver & Peter Scriver
97 min

The less you know about Endless Cookie beforehand, the better you will be prepared. Seriously.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light
Georgia O’Keeffe: The Brightness of Light film image; painted reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows that combine to look like a flower

Georgia O'Keeffe: the Brightness of Light

Dir. Paul Wagner
118 min

Drawing on her copious correspondence and the world's leading scholars, this is a definitive documentary on the life and work of "the mother of American Modernism."

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre