The Producers

Rosa Rogers began her film making career making short experimental dance and poetry films for Channel 4 which won prizes at festivals around the world. She was drawn to the world of documentaries and over the past few years has directed many short documentaries for leading UK broadcasters which have been shown across several continents. She has twice been a finalist in the One World Media Awards. Casablanca Calling is her first feature documentary, following the work of Morocco’s new generation of female Muslim leaders.

Hilary Durman is a director of award-winning indie Redbird. She has won three BAFTAs for dramas including Oddsquad by John Godber and Dream On by Ray Harrison Graham. Hilary has produced documentaries for BBC and Channel 4 on many different subjects. In 2009, she produced The Time of Their Lives for BBC Storyville and the UK Film Council. Her second feature documentary was Donor Unknown, a Redbird and Met Film co-production, directed by Jerry Rothwell.

Making The Film

At the time when we first heard about the Morchidat there was a lot of debate about the leadership roles women could take in Christianity and at the same time, in the wake of 9/11 and the London bombings, anti-Islam sentiments were high in much of the popular media. Filming Casablanca Calling was the most challenging experience of my filming career. Despite the difficulties, I believe passionately that the work of the Morchidat is groundbreaking and that their story must be told. I feel strongly about the misrepresentation of Islam in much of Western mainstream media and want to show a different side. We wanted to tell human stories which transcend cultural divides, and simultaneously illuminate everyday truths about the lives of ordinary women in the Arab world.