Marrakchi looks at the migrant labour system not as a distant social issue, but through the intimate force of female solidarity. Against the vast agricultural landscape of Huelva, where fruit is picked for European tables under conditions rarely seen by those who consume it, La Más Dulce gives form to the invisible: the women whose bodies, dignity and dreams are too often treated as expendable.
At the heart of the film is a question of voice. What does it cost to speak when the system is designed for your silence? Through its portrait of sisterhood, survival and resistance, La Más Dulce becomes more than a story of exploitation. It is a film about courage, about the fragile line between fear and justice, and about women who refuse to remain unseen.
AM: How did the idea for La Más Dulce first come to you?
Laïla Marrakchi: I became curious about what makes someone decide to speak out about harassment and exploitation. I followed a friend to Huelva and Palos, in southern Spain, and discovered that, in a way, Morocco had been recreated there. What I found was almost a #MeToo situation unfolding in the strawberry fields. I immediately felt it was an extraordinary subject for cinema. But I did not want to make a documentary. I spent four years writing the script with my co-writer and met women who had lived through similar experiences. In the end, however, I chose not to follow one true story exactly. I needed creative freedom to build the film as fiction.
AM: Why did you want to tell this story from the point of view of a woman?
Laïla Marrakchi: From the very beginning, it was essential for me to tell the story from a woman’s perspective and to propose another narrative. I did not want to show her only as a victim. People are full of contradictions, and I wanted to show that complexity. It was important to put a face to this subject, to humanise this woman and give her dignity. Too often, we read about these women as numbers or statistics in articles. I wanted the audience to see her as a person.
AM: How did you avoid stereotyping Arab women in the film?
Laïla Marrakchi: By refusing to reduce the character to a single identity or condition. She is not only a migrant worker, not only an Arab woman, not only a victim. She is a woman with desires, fears, contradictions and strength. For me, the most important thing was dignity. I wanted to show her humanity before anything else.
AM: Why do you consider the strawberry industry in southern Spain to be part of a wider systemic problem?
Laïla Marrakchi: Because it is not specific to Spain. We see the same kind of exploitation in California with Mexican workers, in Italy with tomato pickers, and elsewhere. It is capitalism. What I observed was that many workers came from Africa, Morocco and South America for the season. There are no Spanish workers picking strawberries. Only foreigners. That creates an unequal system that, to me, resembles a form of modern slavery and neo-colonisation.
AM: But were there also positive experiences among migrant workers?
Laïla Marrakchi: Yes, of course. Not everyone who comes to pick strawberries has a terrible experience. Some women do manage to work and return home without facing abuse. But the existence of positive experiences does not erase the reality of exploitation. The problem is the system itself, because it allows abusive situations to happen.
AM: How did you approach the representation of the Spanish justice system?
Laïla Marrakchi: I met several associations doing very important work on the ground. Through a lawyer from one of these associations, I learned about real cases and how the justice system functions.
When preparing the trial scene, I also consulted a real lawyer to make sure the process was accurate and that the way the trial unfolded felt credible.
AM: The courtroom scene at the end is especially powerful. Can you talk about writing and filming it?
Laïla Marrakchi: In that scene, the main character decides to speak out during the trial. What she says, essentially, is: “We are human beings.” That could almost sum up the entire film. It was a very challenging scene to shoot because we had only one day to film the entire trial. I rewrote the speech just a few days before shooting. What mattered most was that she could say: we are not invisible. We are visible. We are women, Arab, Muslim, and simply human.
AM: What were the biggest production challenges?
Laïla Marrakchi: We only had 25 days of shooting, which was very little. It is always difficult to find financing for films in Arabic, and this production was particularly complex because we were working between Spain and Morocco, with Spanish, Moroccan, French and Belgian actors. I speak English, French and Arabic, so I often found myself acting as a translator, not only between languages, but between different ways of thinking and working.
AM: This is your second time at Cannes. How does it feel to return?
Laïla Marrakchi: Yes, I was here 20 years ago with my first film. The feeling is different now. There is a more global perspective. You see films from South America, Africa and many other places. It feels more cosmopolitan. I also feel more comfortable now. I am very happy that this film is being presented in this section.
AM: Has the landscape changed for Arab filmmakers since you first came to Cannes?
Laïla Marrakchi: Yes, I think there is much more diversity now. When I came with my first Moroccan film 20 years ago, there were almost no Arab films. I was one of the first Arab women filmmakers to be there. My debut was a teen movie set in Casablanca, and that surprised people because it was not what they expected from Morocco. At the time, we were really pioneering. Now there are many Arab filmmakers working, and that is wonderful to see.
AM: Do you feel there is more freedom of expression at the festival today?
Laïla Marrakchi: I think there is more space, yes, although I am not sure whether that is also connected to the question of being politically correct. My feeling is that the festival has become more European and more cosmopolitan overall, with more films from different regions and more voices represented.
AM: What are you working on next?
Laïla Marrakchi: I have just finished this film, so I am still coming out of it. But next, I am working on a documentary about my mother, who is a bridge champion. Last year, I followed her to the first women’s bridge championship in Jeddah. She is 70 years old, and it was an all-female competition, which I found fascinating to document.