Adam

This is certainly not the first door Samia has knocked on. And Abla, too, wants to send away this pregnant young woman who turns up out of the blue asking for help. But Abla’s eight-year-old daughter Warda has other ideas. Alright then: she’ll take this lost soul in for a few nights.

In this modest, empathetic directorial debut it’s immediately apparent that the lives of these two women are marked by Morocco’s patriarchal society. Samia, unmarried and pregnant, is running from something on the streets of Casablanca. For Abla, widowed and a single mother, her small home and the adjoining bakery she runs are her fortress, protecting her from the outside world.

The details are incrementally revealed of how they came to be where they are, as the women – subtly played by international star Loubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi – gradually become closer to one another. A little like the ingredients for Abla’s bread, which only yield their secrets if kneaded together with skill and love.

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