Personal Reflections.

Writing this screenplay for The Ogress of Fez is turning out to be a tougher challenge than I first thought. Every day, I'm faced with the task of dialling back the drama to find the real story beneath—a story not just about events but about the very real, complicated people who lived them.

Set in the 1930s in a brothel in Morocco, the backdrop is Bousbir, a district manufactured by colonial forces as a space both of control and of escape. Here, I'm trying to paint a picture of life inside this world through the eyes of Oum El Hassen, a figure whose actions have been sensationalised in history books. She's a madame, a figure of power, but also a woman caught in the complexities of her own decisions and identity.

Today, I wrote a scene where Oum quietly watches her world from the shadows of the brothel. It's these moments I'm drawn to—small, silent testaments to her isolation and ambition. As an Algerian in Morocco, she navigated the nuances of being neither fully one nor the other, under a French regime that saw her as neither. This screenplay isn't just about her crimes; it's about understanding her as a person who lived through extraordinary times.

The freedom of not adhering strictly to historical facts is a relief. This isn't a documentary; it's a drama inspired by real events and real emotions. That gives me space to explore, to imagine, and to create a version of Oum that speaks to broader truths about power, identity, and survival.

Sometimes, I worry about getting it wrong—about straying too far from the truth or, conversely, not far enough. How do I honour the real women of Bousbir without exploiting their stories? How do I show Oum's cruelty without losing sight of her humanity? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

But there's a scene I keep coming back to—one where Oum and one of her girls share a rare, honest conversation. It’s not based on any record, but imagined from what I've learned about the world they inhabited. It's scenes like this that I hope will bring nuance and depth to the film, and maybe even offer a new way to view the past.

This project is my chance to step beyond the sensational, to find the human core of a story that's been told many times, in many ways. It’s daunting, but it’s also a chance to really delve into the creative depths of what filmmaking can be—more than just retelling, but reimagining.