IDN'TAALIN FEST :
The festival chose its name in homage to a tradition in the Souss region, among the tribes between Taroudant and Ouarzazat. IDN'TAALIN (Women's Night) is an annual celebration that brings together all the women of the tribe. This night is a kind of liberation from male domination, women gather and share meals, songs and dances throughout the evening. It is also an opportunity to
renew social ties between women of different ages, far from their daily lives that is mainly restricted by the patriarchy.The festival has therefore chosen to bear the same name to pay respect and honor to this feminist tradition forgotten in the urban environment, and which is also dying in its original region . It is an event created with the aim of empowering the section from the main collective. The festival aims to strengthen the female and queer presence in the cultural field, promote the female artistic scene, encourage women to emancipate their creative aspects and support the fight against gender-based discrimination in intersectionality with other forms of discrimination such as homophobia and transphobia. The F&Q Section :
The Feminist and Queer section of the Hardzazat collective was born in 2018 during the 4th edition of the HHF, following a self-criticism of the members regarding several forms of discrimination, mostly systemic, towards Queers and women within the festival. With this in mind, the team organizers started operating in an intersectional way in order to encourage more women and queers to join the collective. Based on its Antifascist vocation, the first objective of the section was to secure the festival and to get as close as possible to the concept of "Safe Space". In order to do so, a zero tolerance policy towards misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, unwanted touching, sexual harassment, and any oppressive behavior/belief was instituted. This applies also to the artists who may sometimes carry discriminatory messages. The section also opts for a deconstruction of male dominance in the festival's programming, given that in previous editions, the vast majority of performers were men. The main reason is obviously the male dominance in the artistic scene, however we can also add the artistic culture of the members of the collective which was notably male (hence the importance of female and queer members within the collective). The section therefore had to create a balance within the programming and even a positive discrimination in favour of female artists and Queers. Since communication is a primary tool to make things happen, the feminist section organizes within the festival a space for debate around issues of gender, sexuality and intersectional feminism. Where all the participants of the festival (artists, audience, staff...) are invited to an open space for debate. This activity and the different workshops on gender identities and sexual orientations are proposed by participants. Although the ideal would be a 100% Safe Space festival, this requires a lot of work in terms of safety and communication. Meanwhile the section proposed a non-mixed space in the festival, a kind of escape and refuge from toxic masculinity. Any person who is not a cis-hetero male, is being harassed or is facing discrimination of any kind , can head to the non-mixed space while waiting for the organizers to intervene, if their intervention is desired by the victim, so as not to impose guardianship. The last addition of the section was to transcend the boundaries of the HHF and collaborate with local women. What was planned for the cancelled edition was to organize in partnership with a women's association in Ouarzazate two workshops, the first in the form of a participatory conference on violence against women, and the second on self-defense. The evolution of the section over the last few years has led to a desire for creating an autonomous HHF festival, which would be mainly led by a team of women and queers. The idea is to take up all the principles conceptualized by the section in Hardzazat and create an autonomous and delocalized festival in Ouarzazate. The purpose is not to reproduce a Hardzazat version of Women and Queers, but a new festival with new artists, screenings and workshops. This is how IDN'TAALIN was born.
