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Through the Atlas Atelier programme, the Marrakech International Film Festival works side by side with a new generation of Moroccan, Arab and African filmmakers, and creates a space for exchange between international professionals and regional talents. Made up of a team of respected film professionals, among them MIFF Artistic Director Rémi Bonhomme and Thibaut Bracq at the helm of the Workshops, the programme is an incubator of future talents and upcoming films by present favourites.
For this year's fourth edition, the sessions will take place online from November 22 to 25. The last time the Workshops took place as a physical event was in 2019.
The addition of Netflix and Arte as partners in this venture guarantees great visibility for the films included in the selection.
Among the most anticipated currently in development is Egyptian helmer Mohamed Samir's latest, titled Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner "a dark tragedy treated as bright comedy," as the film's tagline goes. Also, Laïla Marrakchi's latest, also in development, La Mas Dulce, about "Fatema, a mother of a nine-year old boy, [who] has just been released from prison [and who now] wants to get to Andalusia in time for strawberry season."
Of the projects in either production or post-production, we are excited about Backstage, by real life husband and wife team Khalil Benkirane and Afef Ben Mahmoud. The film stars Ben Mahmoud and Saleh Bakri, which seems like the beginning of a dream team. The film deals with the misadventures of a Tunisian dance troupe while they try to conclude a Moroccan tour and travel through the Atlas mountains.
Also co-starring Saleh Bakri is Alam by Palestinian director Firas Khoury, which is co-produced by Ossama Bawardi of Philistine Films. The film has already wrapped shooting in Tunisia during the summer of 2021.
The full list of projects can be found below.
Feature projects in development
Breakfast, Lunch And Dinner (Egy-Fr)
Dir. Mohamed Samir
Prod. Marwa Abdalla, Mohamed Samir, DayDream Art Production (Egy)
La Mas Dulce (Mor)
Dir. Laïla Marrakchi
Prod. Marrakchi, Cinestésia (Mor)
Leïla’s Trial (Tun, Fr)
Dir. Charlie Kouka
Prod. Caroline Nataf, Unité (Fr)
Nonna (S. Afr)
Dir. Tebogo Malebogo
Prod. Petrus van Staden, Vanishing Elephant (S Afr)
Oil And Water (Nig, Can)
Dir. Newton Aduaka
Prod. Éric Idriss-Kanago, Daniela Mujica, Yzanakio (Can)
Sweet Disposition (Mor-Fr)
Dir. Youssef Michraf
Prod. Jean-Christophe Reymond, Kazak Productions (Fr)
The Chattering Of Teeth (Lesotho, S Afr)
Dir. Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese
Prod. Cait Pansegrouw, Elias Ribeiro,Urucu (S Afr)
The Last Days Of R.M. (Alg)
Dir. Amin Sidi-Boumédiène
Prod. Louise Bellicaud, Claire Charles-Gervais, Vivo Films (Fr)
The Vanishing (Sen)
Dir. Rama Thiaw
Prod. Rama Thiaw, Yanis Gaye, Boul Fallé Images (Sen)
The Pigs Of Cairo (Egy, Fr)
Dir. Rani Massalha
Prod. Marie Legrand, Les Films du Tambour (Fr)
Tunis-Djerba (Tun, Fr, Qat)
Dir. Amel Guellaty
Prod. Asmae Chiboub, Atlas Vision (Tun)
Features in production or post-production
Alam (Pal, Fr, Tun, Qat)
Dir. Firas Khoury
Prod. Marie Pierre Macia, Claire Gadéa, MPM Film (Fr)
Backstage (Tun/Mor)
Dir. Afef Ben Mahmoud, Khalil Benkirane
Prod. Khalil Benkirane, Lycia Productions (Mor)
Land Of Women (Egy, Fr, Den, Qat)
Dir. Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir
Prod. Ayman El Ami, Felucca Films (Egy)
Le Mouton De Sada (Sen)
Dir. Pape Bouname Lopy
Prod. Khadey Zidna Mahfou, Groupe Lydel Com (Sen)
Phiona, A Girl From Madrid (Rwanda, Fr)
Dir. Mutiganda wa Nkunda
Prod. Nadim Cheikhrouha, Tanit Films (Fra)
Queens (Morocco)
Dir. Yasmine Benkirane
Prod. Amélie Jacquis, Jean des Forêts, Petit Film (Fr)
The Mother Of All Lies (Morocco) documentary
Dir. Asmae El Moudir
Prod. Asmae El Moundir, Insight Films (Mor)
Under The Fig Trees (Tun, Fr)
Dir. Erige Sehiri
Prod. Erige Sehiri, Henia Production (Tun)
Regards Sur L’Atlas (Moroccan projects and films)
Moroccan features In development
L’Histoire De M (Mor, Fr, US)
Dir. Hakim Belabbes
Prod. Hakim Belabbes, HAK Films (Mor)
The Blue Lake (Mor)
Dir. Daoud Aoulad-Syad
Prod. Daoud Aoulad-Syad, Les films du Sud (Mor)
Road To Limbo (Mor)
Dir. Ayoub Lahnoud
Prod. Fatima Boubakdy, Seven Shots (Mor)
Those Going To Paradise (Mor)
Dir. Nabil Merrouch
Prod. Rim Mejdi, Tifawfilms (Mor)
In post-production
Distances
Dir. Reda Henkam
Prod. Hicham Falah, Cinema Salama (Mor)
