Calle Malaga, or the street of Malaga, a place where Tangier-born Spaniards have moved to and remained. It has become generational, the need and want to die in the same place you were born. Something young people may never understand or want to know the feeling of. Though, even if we may not want it, we can still appreciate the beauty and the delicacy in the decision behind the why. It is not just a nostalgia for these people, but it becomes a memory made in everything from where they go to what they have kept in their possessions.
After the success of her previous film The Blue Caftan (2022), Touzani brings a new story to the screen. While inviting audiences into her protagonist’s world right from the opening scene, the film feels welcoming and touching. She creates a story that, though is simple, evokes compassion and understanding in its viewer(s). Films need not always a complex plot, when a message as simple as a mother-daughter relationship be explored. Family and personal history, that is what grounds Calle Malaga.
79-year-old Spanish woman, Maria Angeles (Carmen Maura), enjoys her daily routine as she lives happily alone in Tangier, Morocco. In the 40 years she has lived in this flat, memories have been made and saved in every piece of furniture or item stored within. The townsfolk know her and she them, there is a beautiful bond between them. Preparing for her daughter Clara’s (Marta Etura) arrival, things take an unexpected turn. Clara shows up announcing that she will be selling the flat as she needs the money. Throwing her mother out as soon as she finds a buyer, Clara returns to Madrid and leaves Maria in a retirement home. Determined as ever to get her home and belongings back, Maria hatches a plan. In her endeavour, along with finding her own again, she rediscovers love and sensuality, the feeling of being alive once more.
Starring Carmen Maura, Marta Etura, Ahmed Boulane, Miguel Garcés, La Imèn, and others, the cast becomes the glue that binds the story together. Without the connection they acquired between each other, there would be no depth to the characters or the story being told. Together, with the direction of Touzani, and led by Maura, they are able to create a love letter for Tangier.
Maura shines as Maria and brings all her skill to represent this complex lady. As we age, we would never want our children to worry about us or betray us in any way, as we would not want to do the same to them. Yet when the worst thing happens to Maria at the hands of her daughter, she is caught completely off guard. Being of an older generation, however, there is a stubbornness in Maria. A stubbornness that comes out with Maura’s portrayal of the character which allows for a change in the story. It switches and changes its pace as Maura brings these deeper emotions in Maria to the forefront. Instead of being a sad story, it becomes the love story Touzani created. While staying true to her character, it becomes clear that Maura understands the want to stay in the city you have always known.
The story comes alive in the careful crafting of the film’s script. Without those quiet moments throughout the drama, there would be less time to get to know Maria and her neighbours. Touzani’s choices allow the audience to connect with not only Maria but those in Tangier as well. It becomes more than just one woman’s story, it becomes to story of a town and a close knit community. Through her careful crafting of the script, Touzani gave her cast much to work with when it came to developing their characters and the relationships between them.
There is a familiarity in the story that many adult mother-daughter pairs can relate to. For the younger of the two there may be a belief that your mother has come to her time and you want to do what you feel is appropriate for her. In Calle Malaga, Clara believes she is doing what is best for her mother. But what the audience comes to see, while Clara is not there, is that Maria is more than capable of taking care of herself. Touzani takes that real life element of the mother and daughter in that the younger never believes in the capabilities of their parents as they age. It is almost as if we as people are trained to believe elders cannot handle as much as us, yet that is in fact not the case. As Maria is brought to this seniors residence, there are moments where the viewer can feel the discomfort in her.
No matter how far Carla pushes Maria, she will not budge from Tangier until the day she dies. While one woman takes a journey into the later part of life, the love for a city is explored and honoured, Touzani’s storytelling techniques give much for the audience to connect to and reflect on.
After premiering at the Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and most recently the London Film Festival, Calle Malaga has received the honour of being Morocco’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. While the film has yet to receive a worldwide release, it has been set for cinematic release on March 16, 2026 in France. High hopes are that other countries will be able to watch the film before the awards season begins in 2026.
