Leïla Kilani
Leïla Kilani (born 1970) is a Moroccan director, screenwriter, and producer. Kilani has worked on films such as Nos Lieux Interdits (2008), Zad Moultaka (2003), and directed the feature film On the Edge (2011). Kilani's films often deal with the political and socio-economic nature of different places, often them being set in her home country.
Also recorded as Leila Kilani
Leïla Kilani

Yann Caradec from Paris, France · Cérémonie de clôture du festival Paris Cinéma 2011 - Lundi 11 juillet 2011 - MK2 Bibliothèque · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- Leïla Kilani
- Born
- 1970
- Education
- School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, master's degree
- Occupation
- Director, screenwriter, and producer
- Nationality
- Morocco
- Languages
- Arabic · Berber
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Leïla Kilani (born 1970) is a Moroccan director, screenwriter, and producer. Kilani has worked on films such as Nos Lieux Interdits (2008), Zad Moultaka (2003), and directed the feature film On the Edge (2011). Kilani's films often deal with the political and socio-economic nature of different places, often them being set in her home country.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Leïla Kilani. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q23418955 · wikipedia · Leïla Kilani
In this article
Biography
Biography
Her documentaries have depicted many of the issues that are faced in some of the affected regions in Morocco and also deals with the difficult living conditions.

Morocccan film director and screenwriter Leïla Kilani at the Festival des Cinémas d'Afrique du Pays d'Apt, France, 2023.
Olivier Barlet
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Leïla Kilani • Native Name — لَيْلَى كيلاني • Born — 1970 • Education — School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, master's degree • Occupation — Director, screenwriter, and producer • Years Active — 2000- • Notable Works — * Nos Lieux Interdits • On the Edge • Sur La Planche • Birdland (Indivision)
Early life and education
Early life and education
Leïla Kilani studied Mediterranean history and civilization in Paris and obtained a master's degree at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. During the late 1990s to the early 2000s, Kilani became a freelance journalist and had made her documentary named Tanger, La Reve De Bruleurs (2002), the story of young immigrants, adjusting to life in Tangier, Morocco. Kilani would later go on to make more documentaries before directing her first feature film in 2011.
Career
Career
Kilani had made documentaries that often depicted a part of her past life, for example in the film Tanger, La Reve de Bruleur(2002), the story "presented a personal perspective of Tangier, this physical, corporeal, sensual frontier, stirring with men and women who dream of a mythical somewhere that they cannot find on this side of the barrier.", the documentary took place in Tangier, a place where she had lived and depicted much of the political elements of young immigrants. Kilani has mentioned that inspiration for the documentary had to do with her fascination with Spain and the Spanish language. She has also mentioned in an interview with Le Monde, a French newspaper, that the term "Bruleur" was meant to signify the burning of an identity, specifically the identities of the young immigrants that are presented in the film. Kilani goes on to mention that the conditions of the country they are from are not enough to sustain their dreams therefore they must displace themselves and therefore burn their identities. One of her most well known documentary works is the film Nos Lieux Interdits(2008). This documentary is a story taking place in the 70s with the reign of the Moroccan king, Hassan II recounting the stories of families during his reign. This film maarewnattention to Kilani d the film han a prize in documentary at the 21st Pan-African Film and TV Festival in 2009. Tese documentaries would later on lead to Kilani's first feature-length film, Sur La Planche (2011). Sur La Planche has been described as a film about "two women flirting with crime in Tangiers", takes place in Tangiers and was first screened in Cannes in May 2011. In 2023, Kilani's film Birdland (Indivision), which she wrote and directed, came out.
Filmography
Filmography
• Title — Year — Notes • Tanger, La Reve de Bruleur — 2002 — Documentary • Zad Moultaka — 2003 — Documentary • Our Forbidden Places — 2008 — Documentary • On the Edge — 2011 — Feature Film • Birdland (Indivision) — 2023 — Feature Film
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Institutional cataloguing adds that leïla Kilani is recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded with the occupation director. Institutional cataloguing adds that leïla Kilani is recorded with the occupation screenwriter. It is also recorded that leïla Kilani is recorded as a citizen of Morocco. It is also recorded that leïla Kilani is recorded with the gender female. Born in Casablanca.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Leïla Kilani was born at Casablanca.
Birthplace
Casablanca.
Birth place
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,814 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Leila DinizPerson
- Leila DjansiPerson
- Leila HatamiPerson
- Leila HyamsPerson
- Leila TongPerson
- Leilah WeinraubPerson
- Leilani SarellePerson
- Leire MartínezPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Leïla Kilani?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.