The Bride Market of Imilchil (1993)

• 42%
• 1993
• Documentary
• Steffen Pierce
• Christian Pierce

In September, in Morocco's Atlas mountains, at the shrine of St. Sidi Ougalmani, Berbers hold their three-day bride market. Men and women, participants and observers, talk about what they look for in a spouse, what might go wrong in marriage, and why divorce takes place (a simple procedure available equally to women and men). The market is one of the few places in Morocco women have a say about whom they marry. We see them dress, plait their hair, arrange their hat, and go to the shrine. A woman accepts a proposal if the man "captures her liver," the source of affection. Since the 1970s, the Moroccan tourist bureau has promoted the event, bringing tourists but fewer Berbers.