Hedi Zardi

Source: Courtesy of Atlas Workshops

Hedi Zardi

The seventh edition of the Atlas Workshops, the industry platform and talent incubator of Morocco’s Marrakech International Film Festival, is preparing to welcome a mix of emerging and established filmmakers from the Middle East and North Africa to its expanded five-day event.

Atlas Workshops will showcase 17 projects in development, 15 of which are first features, and a further 10 films in production or post-production from 13 countries.

Participating filmmakers include Bye Bye Tiberias director Lina Soualem, with her first fiction feature Alicante, French-Moroccan actor turned director Djanis Bouzyani with his documentary And Still I Rise and Mouloud Ouyahia with the follow-up to his Cannes 2023 Directors’ Fortnight short The House is On Fire, Might as Well Get Warm with his first feature The Source. 

Hédi Zardi, head of the Atlas Workshops,  talks to Screen about the expansion of the programme, project highlights and how mentor Jeff Nichols will work with the filmmakers.

What has changed and what has remained the same from last year’s edition of the Atlas Workshops?

We wanted to offer a more intense programme covering additional, creative aspects of project development. We have added three new thing. The first is an online four-day edition before the festival called Atlas Online, to allow the filmmakers to master the international co-production tools for the projects in development and master the distribution strategy for projects in post-production.

These sessions also included time with producers, distributors, sales agents to reflect the current dynamic of the international market.

Onsite, we have added a day dedicated to creative labs, focusing on production strategy, script development, editing and also adding aspects such as casting and acting.

For projects in postproduction, we have added [sessions on]  marketing, poster design and international press.

The last thing we have added is a one-day online co-production market after the festival, to allow all the guests who were not able to attend the festival to meet the projects. From  the original four days, we have moved to 10 days of Workshops. 

Tell us about the new Atlas Station training programme. 

It is for rising young Moroccan directors and producers to develop creative tools and their career strategies. This section is more focused on individuals, whereas the other part of the Atlas Workshops is more focused on projects.

Who are some of the talents attending Atlas Workshops as mentors this year?

Tunisian actor Adam Bessa (Arab Star of Tomorrow 2022), Iranian actress  Zahra Amir Ebrahimi, and Palestinian star Hiam Abbass will be here [for live readings] to help the projects in development discover the dynamics and identity of the main characters.

We also have Moroccan cinematographer Amine Berrada, who shot Banel & Adama as well as Hounds, both 2023 titles, as well as Tunisian DoP Frida Marzouk, who has worked on Bye Bye Tiberias and Under the Fig Trees.

Our regulars include Mohamed Ben Attia for script development, Alaa Eddine Aljem who will be involved in the new training programme, Souleymane’s Story screenwriter Delphine Agut, Moroccan TV’s Reda Benjelloun, as well as Tunisian editor Nadia Ben Rachid, and Lebanese screenwriter Joelle Touma, who wrote The Attack and The Insult, along with Lebanese producer Myriam Sassine.

As patron of the Workshops, what day-to-day role will US filmmaker Jeff Nichols play?

He will be here for the pitching sessions of the projects in development and for the screenings of the projects in post-production. He will meet the participants in small groups and each of them will have sent him a question related to their work. This will turn into a discussion between directors and Nichols will be here to mentor them.

Last year’s Marrakech festival jury awarded the Etoile d’Or to Asmae El Moudir’s The Mother Of All Lies — a first for a Moroccan film. What has been the impact of this on the local industry?

Her win allowed a generation to see it is possible for a Moroccan filmmaker to win the biggest award in your own territory. Also that an independent arthouse documentary can go to Cannes, and that it can represent the country at the Academy Awards and be shortlisted.

Our lineup of newcomers this year includes Moroccan director Walid Messnaoui with his project The Last Beast Of Atlas, a strong genre film, about a manhunt for a gangster, produced by a new company, which has two projects in the Workshops this year.

What do you advise filmmakers participating in the Workshops with their projects?  

I ask them to bring availability - availability in their mind, in their heart. Most of all to remain a passionate cinema lover, discovering a film on the big screen. Don’t forget the basics.

The Atlas Workshops take place from December 1-5; the Marrakech International Film Festival runs from November 29 until