Constructions of sexuality in recent Maghrebi films by women film-makers

Since 1978 in Algeria and Tunisia and since 1982 in Morocco, women film-makers have sought to account for the oppression of women, for their struggle for freedom including artistic freedom. For the last ten years, films by women film-makers have become more numerous much more diverse moving away from naturalism and the narratives of emancipation that made the commercial success of Maghrebi films in Europe. Dealing with sexuality is complex because such images are often taboo and transgression may not be liberating for women film-makers who need to find a way to expose the shackles of patriarchy without catering to the pleasure of western audiences keen on orientalist fictions. This article that focuses on more recent films, like Karin Albou’s Le Chant des Mariées (2008), Raja Amari’s Les Secrets (2010) or even Leila Kilani’s Sur la planche (2010), or social films like Nadia Cherabi’s L’envers du miroir (2007), Myriam Bakir’s Agadir-Bombay (2011), explores national and regional specificities regarding images of sexuality. The goal of this analysis is to understand the terms within which such images that entail sexual pleasure or repression, rape and masturbation may redefine relationships of power.