MARRAKECH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PRESENTS 2nd EDITION OF NEW INDUSTRY PLATFORM THE ATLAS WORKSHOPS, DECEMBER 3 TO 6

Cinema from Africa and the Middle East has had a significant presence at the major international film festivals throughout 2019, echoing the growing interest of the international industry in the pool of talents emerging from the region.

The Atlas Workshops have been designed to enable the Marrakech International Film Festival to accompany the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers, as well as to create an essential meeting place for the international industry.

ZANKA CONTACT by Ismaël el Iraki, Moroccan debut that is selected for this 2019 edition of the Atlas Workshops as part of the films in postproduction.

Introduced in 2018, the Atlas Workshops are a creative and professional platform that supports filmmakers, as well as a space for networking among international industry representatives and regional talents. For its second edition, the Atlas Workshops supports 28 projects in development and films in post-production selected from among some 130 submissions. The selected projects represent 13 Moroccan filmmakers and 14 countries including certain territories that are rarely showcased on screens (Comoros, Djibouti, Mozambique, and Tanzania).

Teams from ten projects in development and six films in post-production will enjoy mentoring sessions from international industry professionals and compete for grants totalling MAD640,000 (€60,000). In parallel, the Atlas Workshops extends its programme with two new initiatives. The Atlas Close-Ups programme features six Moroccan projects, while the Atlas Films Showcase provides a first look at three films made by established filmmakers to festival programmers. The Atlas Workshops also showcases the documentary genre, welcoming four African documentary makers to participate in Hot Docs – Blue Ice Group.

In addition, the Atlas Workshops 2019 feature round-table discussions during which professionals will share their experiences and thoughts on African and Middle-Eastern cinema. In particular, this edition will shed light on writing for genre cinema, which is currently enjoying a resurgence in the Arab world and on the African continent. It will also explore the network model, welcoming 16 members of the Network of Alternative Arab Screens.

Overt the course of four days, with the support of Netflix, the Atlas Workshops will welcome 270 international professionals to develop and support Moroccan, Arab and African films.

143 RUE DU DESERT by Hassen Ferhani, Algerian documentary that won the Atlas Prize for postproduction during the first edition of the Atlas Workshops in 2018 and then premiered in Locarno where it won the Best Emerging Director Award. The film is also presented this year in Marrakech as part of the 11e Continent program.

ATLAS WORKSHOPS’ SELECTION

PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

ASKHKAL by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)

COURA + OLEYE by Iman Dijonne (Senegal)

HEIRLOOM by Larissa Sansour & Søren Lind (Palestine)

IKIMANUKA – SEASONS OF THE WEARY by Samuel Ishimwe (Rwanda)

THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES by Asmae El Moudir (Morocco) – documentary

LES MEUTES by Kamal Lazraq (Morocco)

PERFUMED WITH MINT by Hamdy Muhamed (Egypt)

A SECOND FILM by Tamer el Saïd (Egypt)

SWEET ANNOYANCE by Hiwot Admasu Getaneh (Ethiopia)

ZAÏRIA by Machérie Ekwa Bahango (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

FILMS IN POST-PRODUCTION

THE GRAVEDIGGER by Khadar Ahmed (Djibouti)

JOINT POSSESSION by Leila Kilani (Morocco)

MICA by Ismaël Ferroukhi (Morocco)

RED CARD by Mohamed Said Ouma (Comoros) – documentary

A TUG OF WAR (VUTA N’KUVUTE) by Amil Schivji (Tanzania)

ZANKA CONTACT by Ismaël el Iraki (Morocco)

ATLAS FILMS SHOWCASE

ON THE WAY TO THE BILLION by Dieudo Hamadi (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – documentary

COLLAPSED WALL by Hakim Belabbes (Morocco)

OUR DARK 70S by Ali Essafi (Morocco) – documentary

ATLAS CLOSE-UPS

ATTEINTE A LA PUDEUR by Mohamed Bouhari (Morocco)

LA CAMEL DRIVING SCHOOL by Halima Ouardiri (Morocco)

LE CHAMEAU MANQUANT by Cheikh N’Diaye (Morocco)- documentary

KHOURIBGA BLUES by Andrea Parena and Omar Kamel (Morocco) – documentary

LE MUR DE LA MORT by Amine Sabir (Morocco)- documentary

LA TEMPETE by Sofia Alaoui (Morocco)

 HOT DOCS BLUE ICE DOCUMENTARY GROUP

THE NIGHTS STILL SMELLS OF GUNPOWDER  by Inadelso Cossa (Mozambique) – documentary

THE RADICAL by Richard Finn Gregory (South Africa) – documentary

ZINDER by Aïcha Macky (Niger) – documentary

Source:MARRAKECH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL