Casablanca Calling

In Morocco, a quiet social revolution is underway.  Women are working as official Muslim leaders for the first time.  Attached to mosques and neighborhoods throughout the country, this new generation of spiritual guides, known as the Morchidat, are using the teachings of Islam to change the conditions and attitudes that foster extremism. 

In the mosques, the Morchidat teach the Koran and advise women who come to see them about everything from relationships with their husbands to bringing up children, work, money and neighborhood disputes.  They mentor teenagers in schools and orphanages, and they to go prisons to mediate between prisoners and their estranged families. Their role is as a spiritual guide, leader, counselor and friend.

Casablanca Calling is an observational film focused on three Morchidat over the course of several months. In the shantytowns, villages and urban communities of Morocco, most young people are unemployed and women lead difficult lives.  For these women and children, the Morchidat are the messengers of enormous change, using Islam to empower their lives.  It is an Islam based on peace, tolerance and understanding.