fifm 2019

Source: FIFM 2019

The Marrakech International Film Festival (November 11-19) has mapped out its 2022 Atlas Workshops programme with 23 projects and films selected for its 5th edition.

The Moroccan festival’s industry platform will feature 16 projects in development and six films in post-production from 11 countries. The project incubator and industry platform was launched in 2018 and was held online in 2020 and 2021. This will be its return to an in-person event set for Nov 14-17. The program aims to support the next generation of Moroccan, Arab and African filmmakers by giving their projects exposure on the international stage during the global, talent-heavy festival.

The selected participants, chosen from a pool of 240 applications, will present their projects in development and films in various stages of production via a co-production market where they can meet international industry execs for personalized mentoring and compete for awards with cash value of 106,000 Euros. The selected projects will receive tailor-made support for all stages of production from script to distribution, editing, marketing and music before participating in a co-production market alongside nearly 250 accredited professionals.

Among this year’s crop of talents are Morocco’s own Meryem Benm’Barek who won the prize for best screenplay in Cannes when her debut feature Sofia screened in Un Certain Regard in 2018, Berlin discoveries Central African Republic’s Rafiki Fariala (We, Students!) and Lebanon’s Peter Barbari (Death of a Virgin and the Sin of Not Living), Senegal’s Mamadou Dia who won a prize in Locarno Film Festival for Nafi’s Father and Egypt’s Sameh Alaa whose I’m Afraid to Forget Your Face won the Palme d’Or for Best Short Film at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival, the first Egyptian to win the award. Moroccan filmmaker Faouzi Bensaïdi will also unveil excerpts from his new film Deserts to festival directors as part of the Atlas Film Showcase.

The 2022 Atlas Workshops will also present two round-tables focused on screenwriting and a panel featuring key distributors from the Arab world. The young program has already proven to be successful. This year, seven films, including five from Morocco, that were supported by previous editions of the Atlas landed in the festival’s official selection.

Atlas Workshops 2022

Projects in development

Behind The Palm Trees (Mor)
Dir. Maryem Benm’Barek

Children Of God (Rwanda)
Dir Marie-Clementine Dusabejambo

Congo Boy (Central African Republic-Democratic Republic of Congo)
Dir. Rafiki Fariala

Demba (Senegal)
Dir. Mamadou Dia

Ghost Ship (Mali-Cameroon)
Dir. Moise Togo

Lende (Senegal)
Dir. Katy Lena N’diaye

La Mer Au Loin (Mor)
Dir. Said Haich Benlarbi 

Pigeon Wars (Leb)
Dir. Dania Bdeir 

So The Lovers Could Come Out Again (Leb)
Dir. George Peter Barbari

The Passport (Palestine)
Dir. Rakan Mayasi

Whale Belly (18) (Egy)
Dir. Sameh Alaa

Moroccan projects in development

Ali 
Dir. Younnes Bouab

L’apocalypse Arabe 
Dir. Samy Sidali 

Mercury
Dirs. Ish Ait-Hamou and Monir Ait-Hamou

Les Saisons Du Silence 
Dir. Abdeslam Kelai 

Le Soleil Des Autres 
Dir. Asmae El Moudir 

Films in production or post-production

Bye Bye Tiberias (Palestine)
Dir. Lina Squalem

Cabo Negro (Mor)
Dir. Abdellah Taia

Chopped (Palestine)
Dirs. Karam Ali and Casey Asprooth-Jackson

Disco Afrika (Madagascar)
Dir. Luck Razanajaona

Inshallah A Boy (Jordan)
Dir. Amjad Al Rasheed

Or De Vie (Burkina Faso)
Dir. Boubacar Sangare