Marrakech Unveils 25 Projects Selected For Atlas Workshops

Melanie Goodfellow
·4 min read

The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the 25 projects selected for the sixth edition of its industry-focused Atlas Workshops, aimed at nurturing emerging Moroccan, Arab and African talent.

Running from November 27 to 30, the event will present 16 projects in development and nine films in production or post-production from 11 countries, selected from among the 320 applications received from the Arab world and African continent.

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In a reflection of the growing diversity of the stories being told by Arab and African independent filmmakers, the selection spans a diverse range of film genres, from Lebanese director Sandra Tabet’s horror picture Rabies to Moroccan filmmaker Hind Bensari’s humanist documentary Out of School and Adnane Baraka’s poetic work We Don’t Forget.

Moroccan filmmaker Baraka made waves with his documentary Fragments from Heaven, about a nomad living in a tent in a remote part of Morocco who goes in search of meteorite fragments to boost the family fortunes.

He is among a number of filmmakers who have already made their mark internationally presenting projects in the workshop, alongside the likes of Erige Sehiri with Marie & Jolie and Khadar Ayderus Ahmed with Thundering Smoke.

Sehiri made waves with Under The Fig Trees, which debuted Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and went on to represent Tunisia in the Best International Film Oscar race.

Ahmed’s The Gravedigger’s Wife won wide acclaim after world premiering in Cannes Critics’ Week and was Somalia’s first ever Academy Awards submission.

Other eagerly anticipated projects include Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim’s Agora; Somalian director Mo Harawe’s The Village Next To Paradise, and Motherhood by rising Tunisian talent Meryam Joobeur, whose short film Brotherhood was nominated for an Academy Award in 2020.

The teams of the 25 selected projects and works-in-progress will receive tailored support from consultants with expertise in the areas of screenwriting, production, distribution, editing, and music, before participating in a Co-Production Market attended by some 250 accredited international professionals.

Juries will award cash prizes totaling €126,000, including the ArteKino Prize.

The Atlas Workshops will also present a series of panels and discussions, including a conversation with Oscar-nominated director Tarik Saleh about his film Boy From Heaven, world premiered in Competition in Cannes in 2022.

Moroccan director Sofia Alaoui will also presents a case study on her Sundance-selected sci-fi fantasy Animalia and the creative significance of special effects in contemporary cinema in Africa and the Middle East.

The full list of projects

Projects in Development

  • Amnesia
    Dir. Dima Hamdan (Palestine) – 1st film

  • Hold Time For Me (Segura Para Mim O Tempo)
    Dir. Fradique (Angola) – 2nd film

  • Il Padre Selvaggio
    Dir. Sammy Baloji (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – 1st film

  • La Nuit Nous Protège
    Dir. Moumouni Sanou (Burkina Faso) | Doc – 2nd film

  • Plague (Fléau)
    Dir. Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia) – 2nd film

  • Rabies (La Rage)
    Dir. Sandra Tabet (Lebanon) – 1st film

  • Running With Beasts
    Dir. Leila Basma (Lebanon) – 1st film

  • The Camel Driving School
    Dir. Halima Ouardiri (Morocco) – 1st film

  • The Passion Of Aline (La Passion d’Aline)
    Dir. Rokhaya Marieme Balde (Senegal) – 1st film

  • Thundering Smoke (Mosi-Oa-Tunya)
    Dir. Khadar Ayderus Ahmed (Somalia) – 2nd film

  • We Don’t Forget
    Dir. Adnane Baraka (Morocco) – 2nd film

  • Wolfmother (Les Fils de La Louve)
    Dir. Ismaël El Iraki (Morocco) – 2nd film

 Atlas Close-ups (Moroccan projects in development)

  • Atlantic Mirage (La Fin de l’Été)
    Dir. Hakim Mao– 1st film

  • Out Of School
    Dir. Hind Bensari| Doc – 2nd film

  • Road Trip
    Dir. Linda Qibaa Doc – 1st film

  • Shehrazade’s Birds (Les Oiseaux de Shehrazade)
    Dir. Sofia El Khyari– 1st film

Films in Production or Post-production

  • Agora
    Dir. Ala Eddine Slim (Tunisia) – 3rd film

  • La Mer Au Loin
    Dir. Saïd hamich Benlarbi (Morocco) – 2nd film

  • Marie & Jolie
    Dir. Erige sehiri (Tunisia) | Pre-Production – 3rd film

  • Motherhood
    Dir. Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia) – 1st film

  • Perfumed With Mint
    Dir. Muhammed Hamdy (Egypt) – 1st film

  • The Magma
    Dir. Mia Bendrimia (Algeria) | Doc – 1st film

  • The Village Next To Paradise
    Dir. Mo Harawe (Somalia) – 1st film

Atlas Film Showcase (films in final stages of editing seeking festival premieres)

  • Bemba
    Dir. Mamadou Dia (Senegal)

  • Happy Lovers
    Dir. Hicham Lasri (Morocco)

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