Layla M.

Layla M. is a 2016 Dutch drama film directed by Mijke de Jong. It stars Nora El Koussour as Layla, a young Dutch woman of Moroccan background who rebels against her family and schooling to become an Islamic fundamentalist. As in other films by de Jong, the focus is on a strong-willed young woman growing up. In Layla M., de Jong and her collaborator Jan Eilander wanted to examine the radicalisation of European youngsters and were inspired by a real life account. As they wrote the script, the Arab Spring was happening and in the Netherlands Geert Wilders was on trial.

Layla M.
Film poster
Directed byMijke de Jong
Written byJan Eilander
Mijke de Jong
StarringNora El Koussour
CinematographyDanny Elsen
Edited byDorith Vinken
Distributed byCinemien
Release date
  • 10 September 2016 (2016-09-10) (TIFF)
  • 17 November 2016 (2016-11-17) (Netherlands)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryNetherlands
LanguageDutch
Arabic
English
Box office$266,010[1][2]

The film premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in 2016. The home media reviews were favourable and internationally the film was well-received. At the Netherlands Film Festival, El Koussour won the Golden Calf for Best Actress and Mohammed Azaay won the Golden Calf Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot

Layla is a young Dutch Muslim of Moroccan background. She was born and raised in Amsterdam, but faces daily Islamophobia and racism. Whilst her family are happily assimilated into Dutch culture, Layla starts to rebel and to move toward Islamic fundamentalism. She begins to watch and circulate short films she finds on the internet about the situation in Syria and Gaza, deciding to make a film herself, which angers her family. When a ban on wearing burqas is made, this strengthens her resolve to wear one. Layla then meets a young radical called Abdel and decides to marry him. They go to a jihadist training camp in Belgium and narrowly evade the police, before relocating to Amman, the capital city of Jordan. When she lives abroad in a different culture, Layla's radicalism is tested as she struggles to adjust to a patriarchal society and begins to see the hypocrisy of extremism.

Cast
  • Nora El Koussour as Layla
  • Ilias Addab as Abdel
  • Hassan Akkouch as Zine
  • Yasemin Cetinkaya as Oum Osama, Layla's neighbor in Syria
  • Husam Chadat as Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabin
  • Mohammed Azaay as Layla's father
  • Esma Abouzahra as Layla's mother
  • Bilal Wahib as Younes, Layla's brother
  • Ayisha Siddiqi as Meryem, Layla's best friend
  • Sachli Gholamalizad as Senna, the aid worker for the refugee camp

Production

Mijke de Jong has focused upon strong young female characters in films such as Bluebird, Katia's Sister and Joy.[3] In the early 2010s, the radicalisation of European youngsters into Islamic fundamentalists led to around 3000 people (of which 550 were women) travelling to the Middle East to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). Around 220 people travelled from the Netherlands to Iraq and Syria, of which almost half were Moroccan-Dutch.[4] De Jong had been planning to write a script based on her own youthful experiences in the Dutch squatters movement when she had a chance meeting with a Dutch woman who had converted to Islam and married a man who had then undergone a radicalisation process. The couple would sometimes visit Morocco together and on their final trip the man disappeared for several weeks, returning as an Islamic militant who had shaved his beard off as in preparation for a suicide bombing. The young woman divorced her husband and never heard of him again. Her story captivated de Jong, and she and co-writer Jan Eilander changed plans to write the new story instead.[5] They kept elements from de Jong's original plans, since saw the similarities between her experiences and Layla's. These included being adamant about social justice and searching for an identity to belong to. Setting the film in contemporary times allowed the writing team to introduce concepts such as online youth radicalisation and multiculturalism.[6] However, de Jong has commented that "for me, the film isn’t so much about showing a radicalization process, but about a girl with a radical personality."[7] At the time of writing, the Arab Spring was happening and in the Netherlands there was a debate triggered by the trial of Geert Wilders on the charge of inciting hatred against Dutch Moroccans.[5][8]

Casting director Rebecca van Unen suggested Nora El Koussour to play the main role. El Koussour had recently graduated from a theatre school in Rotterdam. When she enjoyed singing a nasheed with Ilias Addab, de Jong was happy with the chemistry between the actors and decided to cast her.[7] Layla M. was shot completely on location, in Belgium, Germany, Jordan and the Netherlands. It was a co-production between these four countries.[5] The original plan had been to film in Syria, but the outbreak of the Syrian civil war meant that production switched to Jordan.[7]

Layla M. premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2016.[6] Before its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival the film was acquired by BetaFilms for international distribution.[9] The film had a cinematic release in the Netherlands on 17 November 2016. It grossed $71,804 on its opening weekend and took in total $266,010 worldwide.[1] It was released on DVD and Video on demand (VOD) on 27 March 2017.[10]

Critical response

The Dutch media was enthusiastic about Layla M.. The Algemeen Dagblad called it an "important" story and gave it four stars out of five. De Telegraaf (four stars) praised El Koussour's talent in showing "her character's indomitable spirit" and NRC Handelsblad (four stars) highlighted the "intense acting performance of the two main protagonists".[11]

Internationally, the reviews of the film were generally favourable. Variety noted that the film came at a time when Islamophobia was on the rise in Western Europe and wrote that "El Koussour and Addab share a gentle chemistry that curdles into romantic tragedy".[12] Screen Daily perceived an "intelligent approach to complex matters", highlighting the cinematography of Danny Elsen and El Koussour's star performance.[13] The New York Times found it a "persuasive case study" of radicalisation.[14] The Hollywood Reporter criticised aspects of the film such as the narrative and the development of supporting roles, whilst also praising its topicality and the location work in Jordan.[15]

Accolades

Layla M. was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. It was also nominated for four Golden Calves.[16] Nora El Koussour won the Golden Calf for Best Actress and Mohammed Azaay won the Golden Calf Award for Best Supporting Actor.[17][18] El Koussour also won the Special Jury prize for outstanding performance at Philadelphia Film Festival.[19] At Filmfest München it won the Fritz Gerlich Prize.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Layla M." Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  2. "Layla M." The Numbers. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
  3. Bockting, Berend Jan (17 November 2016). "Layla M. zoekt het hartverscheurende verhaal achter de krantenkop". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 15 October 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  4. Bartels, E.A.C.; Brouwer, L.A. (2017). "Layla M.: a film about the radicalisation of a Moroccan Dutch girl. Women's voices from Amsterdam West and the VU University". In Sadiqi, Fatima; Reifeld, Helmut (eds.). Women and resistance to radicalisation. Rabat: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. pp. 137–155. ISBN 978-9954-99-911-0.
  5. Bowen, Shannon L. (12 January 2017). "Oscars: A Female Muslim Teen Becomes Radicalized in the Netherlands' 'Layla M.'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  6. Gardner, Kate. "LFF 2016 Women Directors: Meet Mijke de Jong — "Layla M."". womenandhollywood.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  7. Levine, Sydney (7 December 2017). "Oscar® Entry from The Netherlands, 'Layla M', an Interview with Writer-Director Mijke de Jong". Medium. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  8. "Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders goes on trial for inciting hatred". The Guardian. Reuters. 18 March 2016. Archived from the original on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. Grater, Tom. "Toronto: Beta Cinema lineup includes Mijke de Jong drama". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  10. Los, Wouter. "Layla M. (2016), een film van Mijke de Jong met Nora El Koussour, Ilias Addab - Cinemagazine". cinemagazine.nl. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  11. "Layla M. – Cinemien". Cinemien (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  12. Tobias, Scott (9 September 2016). "Film Review: 'Layla M.'". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  13. Hunter, Allan (10 September 2016). "'Layla M': Toronto Review". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 26 November 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  14. Vineyard, Jennifer (2016). "Layla M." The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  15. van Hoeij, Boyd. "'Layla M.': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  16. Keslassy, Elsa (5 September 2017). "Mijke de Jong's 'Layla M.' Is Dutch Entry in Foreign-Language Oscar Race". Variety. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  17. "Beste Actrice ⋆ Nederlands Film Festival". Nederlands Film Festival (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  18. "Beste Mannelijke Bijrol ⋆ Nederlands Film Festival". Nederlands Film Festival (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  19. "Film Festival 25". Philadelphia Film Society. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  20. "Film over Amsterdamse Layla M. wint mensenrechtenprijs". Het Parool (in Dutch). ANP/Het Parool. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
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