Doha Film Institute
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Fatine, a young girl of 17, lives with her mother, Nadia who is a “chikha” (singer and dancer of “Aïta”, popular Moroccan music) in Azemmour, Morrocco. She has just passed her baccalaureate exams, and she’s torn between two opposing paths—either committing to the family’s artistic tradition or a more risk-averse life with her boyfriend, who scorns her heritage.
Fatine, a 17-year-old girl, lives in Azemmour, Morocco, with her mother Nadia, and grandfather. Her mother is a "chikha" (singer and dancer of popular Moroccan music who animates weddings, circumcisions and other celebrations with the art of Aïta) by profession and heritage. Having finished high school, Fatine is torn between two opposing paths—either to perpetuate the family artistic tradition—or lead a more ordered life with her boyfriend Youssef, who rejects her sulphurous artistic heritage. As deeply in love with Youssef as with Aïta (ancestral poetic and musical art practised mainly by women-artists "chikhates" in Morocco), she has to decide on the direction of her life to fulfil herself. An unforeseen ultimatum forces her to make a radical decision.

Credits

Director
Ayoub Layoussifi & Zahoua Raji
Screenwriter
Yamina Zarou, Ayoub Layoussifi & Zahoua Raji
Producer
Najib Walid Derkaoui & David Azoulay
Production Company
Cine-Scene
Cast
Fatima-Zahra BENNACER Saleh BEN SALEH Hamid NAJAH Warda ESRAA

About the Director

Ayoub Layoussifi
Born in Casablanca in 1983, Ayoub Layoussifi moved to France in 2002. Trained at the Actors Studio in Paris, he earned a master’s degree in directing and creative filmmaking from Paris 8 University in 2010. In 2012, he directed ‘Tell Me Mohamed...’, an award-winning documentary about a visually impaired musician performing in the Paris metro. In 2017, he co-wrote and co-directed ‘Tikitat-A-Soulima
Zahoua RAJI
Born in Brussels, Zahoua Raji studied photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels and worked on Moroccan film productions before pursuing photographic projects internationally. In 2024, she co-directed ‘Chikha’ with Ayoub Layoussifi, which received the Baobab Award at Film Africa and was selected in the 2025 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. They are currently devel
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