A Door to the Sky by Farida Benlyazid hasn’t aged a day. More than a film, it is a bold cinematic gesture where Sufi spirituality and female emancipation intertwine without ever clashing. Upon its 1988 release, it stirred controversy: too religious for some, too feminist for others. Today, it feels strikingly ahead of its time, almost prophetic. Nadia, returning from France to open a women’s zawiya in Fez, embodies a luminous vision of Islam: open, serene, and deeply modern. In defiance of victim narratives or orientalist clichés, the director portrays faith as a vehicle for liberation, not repression. It’s a film of courage, both in form and in substance. A foundational work, rooted in Moroccan culture yet universal in its aspirations. If cinema can be a political act, A Door to the Sky is a masterclass. A modern feminist manifesto wrapped in lyrical poetics, it remains one of Morocco’s most vital and visionary films. — JIHANE BOUGRINE