Movie director and actor Ayoub Layoussifi has several strings to his bow. His latest short film, Tikitat-A-Soulima, was awarded by Festival du Film Court Francophone de Vaulx-en-Velin. In Morocco, the national TV audience is familiar with him. He was discovered through his roles in TV series such as 1001 Nuits (by Anouar Moatassim), or Amal Hayati, the TV film by Chaouki El Aoufir. Ayoub Layoussifi has also directed the historical TV series Assayida Al Hourra, which is based on the life of a princess in Tetouan, in the 16th century. Before that, the artist has also worked in improvisation theatre in Paris, while studying cinema. He is also famous in France for having brought Mohamed Lamouri, a tube musician, out of anonymity through his first short film: Dis-moi Mohamed... Rituals first and foremost Born in Casablanca in 1983, Ayoub Layoussifi has been living in France since he was 18 years old. After graduating high school with a scientific baccalaureate in Morocco, he flies to France where he eventually graduated with a master's degree in information technology. But his engineering side was overtaken by his artistic side, which is why he decided to dedicate himself to cinema and undertook cinema studies at Paris 8 University. His artistic career therefore starts when he was 22, with Ayoub becoming both actor and director. The young man started to act in short films and to collaborate in film projects as artistic director, assistant director or co-director. Although he was destined to a career in IT engineering, the artist doesn't attribute it to chance: «My parents were cinema aficionados. They form part of that generation in Morocco that used to go to the movies frequently. I haven't experienced that period first-hand, but I would always accompany my dad to video clubs where he would eventually start renting VHS films, before DVDs appeared.» And thus, the artist-to-be has been used to classical films since his youth, watching masterpieces featuring Hitchcock, John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, alongside his parents. The activity became a ritual which has built Ayoub Layoussifi's taste for cinema. Once in Paris, alongside two friends, he creates the Association vidéo élan de créativité (AVEC), which aimed at perpetuating the family tradition and meeting regularly to watch classics such as the Godfather or Citizen Kane: «It made me recall my childhood memories. Subconsciously, I started to feel like getting back into cinema. I was feeling that in other areas, I would quickly lose steam.» The actor then decided in 2006 to steer towards other studies, more in line with his vocation. He participated to a TV series by Xavier du Ringer and featured in short movies. While still a student, in 2011, he meets with director Chaouki El Aoufir. It is through the latter that he eventually landed the first part in TV film Amal Hayati. Following a professional master's degree in cinema directing and creation, the artist graduates with a research master's degree in cinema theory, history and aesthetics in 2012. Solidary cinema In Paris, Layoussifi often travels by metro line 2. Since 2009, he often meets Mohamed Lamouri at the platform edge. The Algerian musician was doing covers of cult Rai songs, including Cheb Hosni's. With a lot of enthusiasm, he tells us that: «Mohamed Lamouri was the appeal of the homeland. Whenever I would hear him sing, I would feel deeply wrapped in nostalgy of family, friends back home, my childhood neighborhood...» Following a conversation with a fellow director and friend, Ayoub realised the importance of showcasing the talent of the Algerian musician: «I went to him and proposed to him to play his own role in a film.» Since then, a friendship between Ayoub and Mohamed formed: «We have developed a fraternal relationship. Since our very first conversation, Mohamed was calling me "brother". We spoke for over a year, and one day, I asked him whether I could film him». Thus the film Dis-moi Mohamed... came to light in 2011. It was a 30-minute long intimist portrait, corealised with South Korean director Jero Yun and produced by Nassim El Moubabbih. On the 13th of July 2012, the first projection of the opus in Morocco took place at the Fabrique culturelle des Abattoirs de Casablanca, alongside the film's team. Six years later, the friendship between Ayoub Layoussifi and Mohamed Lamouri was reinforced and several other friends got along. «We could finally ask for the regularisation of his immigration status, because we wanted to give him the life deserved", Ayoub declares with pride, before adding: «We are a group of friends and we follow Mohamed very closely. He is brave, worthy and touching at the same time. He has a great heart. That's why things got really natural with him. It is us that help him get his immigration status sorted.» Granted with French citizenship in 2014, Ayoub Layoussifi now dreams of helping Mohamed get his status sorted in France so he could travel, participate in tours, make other films and also visit his family living in Algeria: «My idea is to be able to make him go back to his home country to see his family one day. It's been almost 17 years he hasn't seen them. The reunion will be full of emotion. I have been by his side since the beginning so I would like to follow him to Algeria and remain here by his side here in France». Linking the two shores Although Ayoub Layoussifi lives mostly in Paris, he still works between his home city and his adopted city: «Since I was going back and forth between the two countries, I tried to put into practice in Morocco what I was learning in France.» He could still find the time however to participate to American and German productions such as in Queen of the Desert by Werner Herzog (2015), or 13 Hours by Michael Bay (2016). In Morocco, Ayoub Layoussifi was distinguished in his principal role in Griffes du Passé, a film by Abdelkrim Derkaoui (2015), before forming part of the casting of Nour Eddine Lakhmari for Burn Out (2017). He also starred in Mohcine Besri's Urgent Affair, where he also plays the lead role. Between two roles, the actor does not forget to go behind the camera, to continue making short films. He makes Tikitat-a-Soulima in 2016, the story is that of Hassan, an 11-year-old boy living in Azemmour who absolutely wants to go to the Cinema Marhaba in El Jadida, which projects Spiderman during a final session before its final closure, the boy fights to raise the money he needs. «This film is the bridge I always dreamed of putting in place between my two countries, the director explains. The project has taken three years to complete». In addition to being a film that highlights the situation of children in marginal cities, this short film exposes the sad reality of cinemas in Morocco, as Ayoub Layoussifi explains: «We are talking about Moroccan cinema, but we do not talk much about cinemas in Morocco. Our country has moved from 237 theatres decades ago to 37 currently. In 2008, the last theatre in Kenitra closed. This means we have cities that could now be labeled 'cinema-free'!» In addition, the director explains that the main character of the short film comes from a single-parent family: «It is a tribute to all single mothers who show courage and dignity on a daily basis. Our societies are violent towards them, but they struggle to raise children who can go to school and succeed in their lives. That is why, in the film, Hassan seems like a bit of an oblivious child. He is very intelligent, but he tries to fit in this society which marginalises his mother.» An international tour Winner at the Vaulx-en-Velin French Short Film Festival last January, Tikitat-a-Soulima also won the Best Screenplay Award in March 2017 at the Tangier National Film Festival. The film won the Grand Prix of the Tasmit Festival of Beni-Mellal, in April 2017, then the award of the public at the Sidi-Kacem Festival of Moroccan Short Film, the same month, with a special mention to Ilyass El Jihani who played the role of Hassan. The director is proud of the work of his collaborators in the film, especially Fatima Zahra Bennacer (who played the role of the mother) and Ilyass El Jihani, who made his debut with director Mohamed Mouftakir, in the widely-accalimed L'Orchestre des aveugles: «They are incredible actors. Fatima Wahra is currently the best Moroccan actress of her generation and Ilyass is born to be an actor !» Since its first screening, Tikitat-a-Soulima has also been shown in Nigeria, in Corsica, in Tunisia, in Italy, in Belgium and Benin. This year, it was selected for the 34th edition of the Festival Vues d'Afrique in Montreal (Canada – April 2018), at the 1st edition of the Festival du film des femmes in Dakar (Senegal - 16th to 23rd of February), and other locations such as Sweden, Spain and Niger. This does not mean however that Ayoub Layoussifi is lulled by the glory and the glamour of the red carpets. He tells us that he is already working on new projects, including a first feature film and a play.
