The gendered Amazigh turn: re-articulating Amazigh women’s identity in Sana Akroud’s Myopia (2020)

Throughout Morocco’s history, various power-yielding actors have pushed the Amazigh people to the margins at political and cultural levels. While Amazigh men have been edged out to the periphery, women experience layered marginalisation due to their ethnicity and gender. Likewise, Moroccan state-controlled media have until recently ignored Amazigh cultures and identities. Against the grain of edgy identity politics, this article examines how contemporary Moroccan cinema is reinvigorating the Amazigh component of national identity. We argue that Moroccan cinema is witnessing a ‘gendered Amazigh turn’ that re-articulates previously suppressed gendered and cultural identities, reintroduces diverse forms of representation into the national imaginary, and reopens space for Amazigh histories and narratives. Taking cues from postcolonial feminism and Amazigh studies, we zoom in on Sana Akroud’s feature film Myopia (2020) as an example of what we call the gendered Amazigh turn. We examine how the film’s engagement with gender and Amazigh politics contributes to the (re)configuration of ethnic and gendered identities in postcolonial Moroccan society. Reading the film in light of ongoing political and cultural changes shaping contemporary society, this article provides insights into how cinema participates in constructing a more inclusive national identity that takes into account the country’s gendered cultural dimensions.