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Jamal Ouazzanni
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Jamal Ouazzanni, author back from residency in India

Laws and policies must be strengthened to protect the rights of discriminated individuals and to severely punish racist and sexist behavior.

Rooted in a Franco-Moroccan culture, filmmaker, screenwriter, podcaster, and speaker Jamal Ouazzani is a passionate advocate for human rights. Since the beginning of his career, he has been deeply committed to identity and social issues. Creator of the podcast JINS, he recently published Amour - Révolutionner l’amour grâce à la sagesse arabe et/ou musulmane, an essay that aims to place love at the center of human interactions.

A 2024 laureate of the Villa Albertine, Jamal Ouazzani has returned from a residency in India as part of the Queer Caravan project, organized by the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, the Institut français in India, and the Queer Muslim Project, with support from the Franco-German Cultural Fund.

Updated on 24/01/2025

5 min

A filmmaker, screenwriter, podcaster, and speaker, Jamal Ouazzani grew up in Casablanca, immersed in a Franco-Moroccan culture. His interest in identity and social issues began at a young age, shaped by the discussions and stories shared within his family. Holding two master's degrees, he graduated in management from ESSEC Business School and in film studies from La Sorbonne. While launching a career in strategy consulting with agencies such as Publicis, BETC, and Fred & Farid in Paris, Dubai, Singapore, and New York, he decided to advocate for human rights.

After reading more than 500 books on gender, sexuality, racism, religion, and feminism, he left the advertising industry to become a screenwriter and filmmaker. Simultaneously, he created a podcast to amplify unifying and inclusive narratives: JINS, the first podcast to address love, sexuality, and gender for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and Muslim communities. To date, the podcast has garnered over 350,000 listeners, including 16,000 regular followers, establishing it as a leading reference in its field. In 2024, he published Amour - Révolutionner l’amour grâce à la sagesse arabe et/ou musulmane, a book inspired by fourteen centuries of Arab and/or Muslim culture. 

A human rights advocate, Jamal Ouazzani is dedicated to promoting inclusion and equity. With Amour - Révolutionner l’amour grâce à la sagesse arabe et/ou musulmane, he invites readers to rethink and re-evaluate how emotional matters are approached in our daily lives. He presents love as a transformative tool capable of profoundly reshaping our societies. His book celebrates all forms of love, from romantic relationships to family bonds, self-love, and spiritual devotion. 

In this essay, prefaced by Leïla Slimani, Jamal Ouazzani draws on historical figures and works of Arab literature, little known in the West, that celebrate love in all its forms. For the author, the goal is to place joy and empathy back at the center of human interactions, elevating love as both an act of resistance and a boundless source of resilience. 

Jamal Ouazzani had the opportunity to be a resident at the Villa Albertine, where he worked in Los Angeles on the third season of his podcast. Central to his work was the question of the intersectionality between Islam, Arab identity, and sexuality in American cinema. 

As part of the Franco-German Cultural Fund, Jamal Ouazzani is one of six Indian, French, and German authors brought together for a 15-day residency in India at the end of 2024. Titled "Queer Caravan: Stories from India, France, Germany," the project aims to amplify marginalized voices. He is one of two French residents, alongside poet Douce Dibondo. 

  • 2013

    2013

    Jamal Ouazzani Begins Strategic Consulting Activities.

  • 2020

    2020

    He Embarks on a Career as a Screenwriter.

  • 2021

    2021

    He Creates JINS, the First Podcast to Address Love, Sexuality, and Gender for Arab and/or Muslim People.

  • 2024

    2024

    After publishing "Amour - Révolutionner l’amour grâce à la sagesse arabe et/ou musulmane", Jamal Ouazzani takes part in the project “Queer Caravan: Stories from India, France, Germany”.

The Franco-German Cultural Fund

The Franco-German Cultural Fund encourages and supports cultural cooperation initiatives carried out in third countries by French and German diplomatic and cultural networks. 

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L'institut français, LAB