Born in Tangier in 1980, Maryam Touzani studied Journalism in London and began her professional career as a film critic. However, she ended up exploring the seventh art from a new perspective, immediately standing out in the writing and directing of short films – Quand ils dorment (2012) and Aya va à La Plage (2015). Touzani has collaborated with Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch (her husband) on several projects, including Razzia (2017), which she co-wrote and starred in, Casablanca Beats (2021), selected for the Official Cannes Competition, and Everybody Loves Touda (2024), films directed by Ayouch.
Her feature-length directorial debut was Adam (2019), which was selected in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival and was Morocco's official submission for the Oscars, the same year Touzani became a member of the Academy. She returned to Un Certain Regard at Cannes with The Blue Caftan (2022), with a screenplay co-written by her and Ayouch, a collaboration that continues with her latest film, Calle Málaga, which will be screened at LEFFEST, Out of Competition, in a session attended by both of them.