Calle Málaga is a eulogy to the particular cultural blend of Spain and Morocco, an ode to a culture’s richness on the backdrop of a personal family portrait.
It is a very specific cultural blend, and one I never thought I would see represented so beautifully and intimately.
Written by Kenza Bouhnass Parra
Director Maryam Touzani mentioned at the Toronto International Film Festival premiere how personal a film this is for her, her own grandmother having lived in Tangier to flee from the Franco government, as many Spaniards have. It is a feeling I share with her. I connected with this film on a very intimate and special way. My maternal grandparents, both from small villages in Andalusia, didn’t meet in Spain as one would expect, but in Tangier. My grandpa had fled the Franco government, and my grandma was visiting her brothers, both working in the city. They have talked fondly about this city their entire lives, my grandpa especially sharing an infinite amount of stories from his twenties there.
When my mom first got together with my dad, they weren’t allowed to date. A Catholic raised Spaniard meets a Muslim-raised Moroccan. They spent years hiding at their older sisters’ apartments. For their parents’ first meeting, after they came to terms with the relationship, my paternal grandparents invited my maternal grandparents for dinner. My grandpa, crazy about Moroccan food from his time in Tangier, devoured the tagine that was served, not knowing a couscous was coming afterwards. They still laugh to tears about it. They still talk about how my grandma clearly overdid it wanting to impress, and my grandpa was unable to say no, not wanting to appear impolite. My paternal grandparents are just as crazy about Spanish food, especially my grandmother’s paella. Every time they visited them, my grandma would make a huge amount to make sure they could bring some home with them.
There is a fraternal aspect to both cultures. Both are not only positioned on the Mediterranean Sea, but across from one another. So much so that you can see Morocco when on a beach in Andalusia. They share warmth and passion, a love for music and dancing, and an attachment to the water and seafood.
I think about how mixed those two cultures have been for me growing up, how I was raised with both so equally present. I think about my dad blasting Spanish music on a Sunday morning as my mom was at the market, and I think about my mom having naturally incorporated Moroccan words into her everyday vocabulary. I think about the hallway in my childhood home, which had Moroccan tiles on the walls and paintings of Sevillian dancers right above. I think about my mom calling her mother-in-law and learning step by step how to make Moroccan meals, and I think about my dad connecting with his father-in-law through soccer, both going crazy over Real Madrid versus F.C. Barcelona games. I think about my sister inheriting Moroccan features yet bearing a Spanish name, while I am my mom’s twin but hold the Moroccan name. I think about how my mom wanted her first child to be named « Kenza », years before meeting my dad and finding out that was his grandmother’s name.
It is a very specific cultural blend, and one I never thought I would see represented so beautifully and intimately. Because Calle Málaga doesn’t only depict the life of a woman in her late seventies. She is a vessel, beautifully written and acted, for an ode to a beautiful society. Its sheer authenticity unexpectedly brought me to tears.
Selected as the Moroccan submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, Calle Málaga will be theatrically released in France on March 16, 2026.
Photo: Courtesy of TIFF
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