Fyzal Boulifa

Fyzal Boulifa
Born	1985 Leicester, United Kingdom
Notable work	Lynn + Lucy The Damned Don't Cry

Fyzal Boulifa (born 1985)^[1] is a British–Moroccan filmmaker. Born in Leicester to Moroccan immigrant parents, his early work includes short films like The Curse (2012), a BAFTA-nominated film about a persecuted young Moroccan woman, and Rate Me (2015), which portrays a teenage escort through online reviews. Boulifa's transition to feature films was marked by Lynn + Lucy (2020), a critically acclaimed exploration of working-class life in Essex. His second feature, The Damned Don't Cry (2022), set in Morocco, follows a mother and son navigating poverty and exploitation. His work is known for featuring untrained actors.

Early life and education

Boulifa was born and raised in Leicester. His parents had immigrated to the United Kingdom from Morocco, working as nursing assistants and later also running an ice cream van.^[2] Boulifa watched videos brought home by his brother and developed a passion for horror movies as a child. This interest evolved into a fascination with underground films and "weird" Asian cinema, eventually leading to a broader appreciation for world cinema.^[3]

At 17 Boulifa dropped out of school and left home for London, where he briefly studied film at the London College of Communication. However, he found the experience unsatisfying, stating, "it didn’t seem serious. I just wasn’t very happy in institutions generally." This led him to pursue a DIY approach, making short films "on a trial and error basis," during a time when there was development funding targeted at filmmakers from regional and ethnic minority backgrounds. He has stated that only his last two short films were worth watching, acknowledging the element of recklessness in his early work, stating, "There was this element of, ‘this is the only thing that I can do. So it has to work."^[2] In an interview with the British Council, Boulifa recalls that while skipping college once, he stumbled upon Carl Theodor Dreyer's Day of Wrath at Leicester's only arthouse cinema, an experience that deeply impacted him and solidified his reverence for cinema as a powerful art form. He also noted that he initially aspired to be a film critic, influenced by reading Robert Bresson's Notes on the Cinematographer, although he eventually embraced filmmaking.^[3]

Career

Boulifa relocated to Paris in his late twenties, partly motivated by the historical colonial ties between France and Morocco, which facilitated obtaining financing for filming in Morocco. His film career began with The Curse, a 2012 short film shot in Morocco, which tells the story of a young Moroccan woman persecuted by children after being seen with a man outside a desert settlement. The film was nominated for a BAFTA. His 2015 short, Rate Me, offers a portrait of a teenage escort through 12 online user reviews.^[2] Both short films won the Illy Prize for Best Short Film at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight section.^[4]

Boulifa's transition to feature films was marked by Lynn + Lucy in 2020, a social-realist narrative about two working-class women from Essex, which initially surprised audiences given Boulifa's background as a gay British Moroccan who grew up in Leicester and lived in Paris at the time. The film received critical acclaim, challenging perceptions of identity and environment. In 2023, he released his second feature, The Damned Don't Cry. Set in Morocco, the film follows a mother and son living in poverty, navigating lives of exploitation and shame.^[2]

Boulifa has gained recognition for his skill in directing untrained actors, with Roxanne Scrimshaw receiving praise for her debut in Lynn + Lucy. He continued this trend with Aicha Tebbae and Abdellah El Hajjouji, previously unknown Moroccan actors, delivering acclaimed performances as mother and son in The Damned Don't Cry.^[2]