Maryam Touzani was born in 1980 in Tangier, Morocco, where she spent her childhood. After graduating in London, she returned to Morocco and started working as a journalist, specializing in cinema. In 2012, her first short film Quand ils dorment won several awards at international festivals including the Doha Tribeca Film Festival and the Festival International du Cinéma Méditerranéen in Montpellier. Aya goes to the beach is premiered at the Dubai Film festival in the fall of 2015.