‘1982’ Director Oualid Mouaness To Adapt & Direct ‘Bilqiss’ For The Kennedy/Marshall Company & K Films

Diana Lodderhose
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Lebanese-American director Oualid Mouaness, whose debut feature 1982 premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival where it won the NETPAC Award, is set to write and direct a feature adaptation of Saphia Azzeddine’s novel Bilqiss for the Kennedy/Marshall Company and Khadija Alami’s K Films.

The project focuses on a rebellious woman, Bilqiss, who decides to take her life into her own hands in a land overtaken by extremism. She’s on trial for calling the neighbourhood faithful to prayer while the muezzin was asleep on the job. It marks the second feature film from prominent documentary and music video director Mouaness.

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“Bilqiss is a delicate story that transcends time and history,” said Mouaness. “It brings to the center stage the notion of what it means to be faithful, and more importantly, how faiths are sometimes deliberately misinterpreted to serve patriarchal aspirations and to judge others in the East and the West. At the book’s core is goodness. It explores this as it interpolates Eastern and Western societies through an unlikely, powerful and difficult friendship between two women of different faiths.”

The narrative unfolds between New York and the Middle East. It’s a timely narrative about strong women who challenge their environment and are unafraid to stand up to extremism.

Mouaness directs and will adapt the script in close coordination with Azzeddine. Frank Marshall and Ashley Jay Sandberg from The Kennedy/Marshall Company with Alami’s K Films, which initially optioned the title. The project will look to shoot in the U.S. and Alami’s Oasis Studios in Morocco.

Mouaness’ debut feature 1982, which stars Nadine Labaki and is currently in cinemas in the U.S., also went on to win the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at El-Gouna Film Festival after it premiered in Toronto in 2019. The film also won the Prix Cannes Ecrans Juniors and received critical acclaim at film festivals in France, China, Qatar and the U.S. He’s also known for producing seminal music videos with artists such as David Bowie (The Stars & The Next Day) and a video-record and Emmy-nominated live concert performance for Annie Lennox (Nostalgia) as well as videos for Lana Del Rey, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, N.E.R.D, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Rihanna among others. He’s been nominated for several VMAs and CMAs over the years.

In his commercial work, Mouaness was instrumental in bringing several docs to life including critically acclaimed Rize, which premiered at Sundance, as well as Max Richter’s Sleep.

Azzeddine is a French-Moroccan writer, actress, screenwriter and film director who has written seven novels including Confidences À Allah and My Father Is A Cleaning Lady, which she adapted into a film and also directed.

Mouaness is repped by Ryan Saul at The Cartel and Chris Tricarico at Tricarico Chavez LLP.

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