Hédi Zardi, a film programmer, producer and founder of Paris-based sales company Luxbox, is the head of Atlas Workshops, the talent development programme of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which starts today (Novemberr 24).
During the past five editions of the Atlas Workshops, initiated in 2018, a total of 111 projects have participated, including 48 from Morocco. Several have gone on to screen at top international festivals. This year, four Atlas alumni were featured at Cannes, among them Asmae El Moudir’s feature documentaryThe Mother Of All Lies, and Kamal Lazraq’s Hounds. Both screened in Un Certain Regard, winning the best director and jury prizes respectively.
In Venice, two former Atlas titles were screened in Giornate degli Autori: Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias, this year’s Palestinian submission to the Oscars, and Backstage by Afef Ben Mahmoud and Khalil Benkirane.
How does the Atlas Workshops fit into the international labs circuit?
Arab and African films are more and more present on big international platforms and show they are not “niche” films anymore. They are strong artistic proposals, they are bold, potentially entertaining and moving films that are distributed around the world.
The Atlas Workshops this year is celebrating this vivid presence, and what is exciting in the lineup is the diversity of genres. We used to have this wrong idea of Arab and African cinema comprising of social drama films that focus on women’s conditions, etc… Nowadays, the talents of these regions are showing they can handle other genres, like horror, thrillers, and fantasy.
Which international companies are attending the Atlas Workshops? Any significant first-time attendees?
This year we are welcoming key players in the industry because they are convinced they can find strong films in these regions. They include French production and world sales companies Memento International and Charades, Paris-based Kinology, German sales company The Match Factory, UK sales company Film Constellation. [From the US] A24, CAA film and TV agent Ozi Menakaya, US producers Ryan Zacarias and Alix Madigan, as well as producers from Tunisia, Sweden, South Africa, Senegal, Norway, Luxembourg, Lebanon, Italy, Ivory Coast, Greece, Germany, France, Egypt, Belgium and Australia.
What role do the Workshops play in nurturing new voices, alongside some of the more established voices within the Moroccan film industry?
The Atlas Workshops is four days of work, discovery and network. These projects need space and time to develop, so they arrive on the market stronger. [We provide] a space for dialogue with experienced mentors and professionals and the time to talk with script, production, editing, sales and music consultants.
I insist on quality. We are working hard to bring a quality programme of work and training. We are here to uplevel the filmmakers’ capacity and potential and started doing online sessions two weeks before Atlas, to allow them to be more prepared for the event. During the four days in Marrakech they will work from 9-6.
What is a typical day in the Workshops for participating projects?
The second day we will have the pitching session during the morning, open to all the industry guests. In the afternoon we will start the co-production market — one-on-one meetings — while, in parallel, some the projects will continue their consultations with their mentors.
The third day we will have work-in-progress screenings for post-production projects, and in the afternoon, [it will be the] same as day two. The last day is a long one: co-production meetings, one-on-one meetings with potential co-producers, sales agents, festival programmers, investors, etc.
At the end, what prizes will be awarded?
There are three cash awards for projects in post-production, four for projects in development, and one, the Artekino International Prize, awarded by the Franco-German channel to a project in development. The biggest one, to encourage projects in development is €30,000, the second is €20,000, and so on. Apart from the ARTEKINO prize, the festival sponsors the other prizes.
What do you see as the challenges ahead, particularly for Moroccan filmmakers?
To keep the quality and the strength of the presence they have now on the landscape of international cinema.
The Atlas Workshops are taking place from November 27-30, during the Marrakech International Film Festival.
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