Layla M. (2016)

A teenage Muslim growing up in Amsterdam becomes radicalised.

Director:

Mijke de Jong

Writers:

Jan Eilander, Mijke de Jong

Stars:

Nora El Koussour, Ilias Addab, Hassan Akkouch

6 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Nora El Koussour	...	Layla
Ilias Addab	...	Abdel
Hassan Akkouch	...	Zine
Yasemin Cetinkaya	...	Oum Osama
Husam Chadat	...	Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabin
Sachli Gholamalizad	...	Senna
Karl Ferlin	...	Gastheer vluchthuis Antwerpen
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Zouhair Ait Aadi	...	Jihadi trainingscamp Belgium
Mohammed Azaay	...	Vader
Steef Cuijpers	...	AIVD agent
Miraj de Groof	...	Jihadi trainingscamp Belgium
Kerem Demirci	...	Jihadi trainingscamp Belgium
Nici Granit	...	Jihadi trainingscamp Belgium
Juju Habip	...	Jihadi trainingscamp Belgium
Batouz Nassaj	...	Jihadi trainingscamp Belgium

Storyline

Layla is an 18-year old girl, born and raised in Amsterdam. Layla is smart, witty and stubborn - and of Moroccan background. In the times of constant terrorist threat, she struggles with the increasing suspicion towards girls with headscarves and boys with beards that she witnesses every day. While her frustration grows, her faith intensifies. Eventually, she joins a group of Muslims who fight for their practice of Islam. Layla posts films online depicting the horrors in Syria and Gaza and makes political flyers. And she flirts with the charismatic Abdel. When her peaceful brother and she are arrested by the police, Layla, feeling hurt and isolated in her anger, more and more in conflict with her parents, is left with only one option: to leave home. She chooses marriage, with Abdel. After their wedding, Layla and Abdel roam the country together, perform 'missionary work', and raise money for the good cause. But after they narrowly escape a raid by the Belgian police on a group of ...

---

Plot Keywords:

muslim | veiled woman | netherlands | f rated | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Official Sites:

Topkapi Films [Netherlands]

Country:

Netherlands Belgium Germany Jordan

Language:

Arabic English Dutch

Release Date:

17 November 2016 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Laila M.

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chromosom Filmproduktion, Imaginarium Films, Menuet bvba

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The song Layla played at the hotel is called Ya Ghayeb, it is a love song by the Lebanese artist Fadl Shaker who in 2011 gave up music for religious reasons, joined a group of radical Sunni militiamen and sang for the Islamic Salafism. Shaker now is serving 15 years sentence with hard labor for his participation in clashes with the Lebanese army.

User Reviews

What a good surprise

We can find this kind of feature in France from time to time. Daring social movie showing the Muslim extremist danger for our society. It shows very well how an ordinary Morocco descent young woman gets involved with Djihad groups. A highly modern scheme which makes you deeply think without any clichés, from the Inside. It shows you how it works. Then you make your own opinion. Period. The female director gave us the perfect job. Saw it on Netflix.