American director Jeff Nichols – whose film The Bikeriders recently achieved acclaim at Cannes and Telluride – is set to be the official sponsor of the Atlas Workshops at the upcoming Marrakesh International Film Festival, which will see him directing selected projects in various stages of the Middle East and Africa. North Africa.
Launched in 2018, Atlas Workshops is an industry initiative to promote and support the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan, Arab and African filmmakers who provide an environment for exchange between global professionals and regional talent.
This year, the Marrakesh Industrial Festival platform includes 17 projects in development and 10 films in production or post-production, belonging to 13 countries. These works were selected from more than 300 applications received by the workshop from various parts of the African continent and the Arab world.
Notable projects presented at the workshops include the film “The Six” by prominent Egyptian director Marwan Hamed (“The Yacoubian Building”). The film, out now, features Egyptian star Mona Zaki in the role of Egyptian icon Umm Kulthum, who from the late 1920s onward became the first prominent Arab singer to spread her work to the masses through the new technologies of the era: radio, the phonograph, and cinema. And TV. Another notable Atlas project — this one in development — is “Alicante,” the feature film debut of director Lina Soualem, who directed her 2023 documentary “Goodbye Tiberias,” which delves into how her mother, actress Hiam Abbass, and her family were displaced from the city of Tiberias by war. Israeli Arabs in 1948, which started from Venice and Toronto. Also in development is Dar Morgana, a film by US-based Moroccan director Lamia Azraq, in which she depicts her family in Marrakesh.
“I am thrilled to visit this amazing festival for the first time,” Nichols said in a statement. He added: “Accepting the position of sponsor for this year’s Atlas Workshops is a great honor, and I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in the journey that filmmakers take.”
Below is the full list of projects and films selected for the Atlas workshops.
Projects under development
“Alicante” by Lina Soualem (Algeria) – first feature film
“The Savage” by Walid Mesnaw (Morocco) – the first film
“Flowers of the Dead” (Flor de Venado), Nuno Miranda (Cape Verde) – first film
– “Ici Repose” – directed by Molly Keane (Senegal) – first film
“Lucky Girl” (Chancesuse), Linda Lou (Senegal) – first film
– “The Orange Grove” – Murad Abu Aisha (Jordan) – the first film
“Princess Tiny” Fabian Dao (Burkina Faso) – first film
“Pure madness” (Pure Madness) – Ines Arsi (Tunisia) Doc – First Film
“Samir, the Accidental Spy”, Charlotte Rabatti (Syria) – first film
“Shelter” (The Shelter) by Talal Salmi (Morocco)
“Source” (Al-Mada), Mouloud Ouyahia (Algeria) – the first film
– “Your Turn 2023” by Cynthia Souma (Lebanon) – the first film
Close-ups of Atlas (Moroccan projects in development)
“And I’m still rising” (In Lost Balls, My Soul Won) by Janice Bouziani (Morocco). Doc – the first film
“Dar Morgana” by Lamia Azraq (Morocco) Document – First Film
“Fatwa,” Mohamed El Badaoui (Morocco)
“The field” (Losham), Muhammadu Buhari (Morocco) – first film
“The Light” (The Nour Brothers), Yassine Iknefar (Morocco) – the first film
Films in production or post-production
“Aisha Can’t Fly Far” Murad Mostafa (Egypt) – First Film
“All That’s Left of You” by Sherine Daibes (Palestine)
“Bardy” – Tala Hadid (Morocco)
“Behind the palm trees.” Meriem Ben Mubarak (Morocco)
“Memoirs from the Siege Era” Abdullah Al-Khatib (Palestine, Syria)
“In the Shadow of Good Luck” Babatunde Abalo (Nigeria)
“It’s a Sad and Beautiful World” by Cyril Aris (Lebanon) – first feature film
“Laundromat” (Olangogogo) Zamu Mkhwanazi (South Africa) – first film
“Once upon a time in Gaza” by Tarzan and Arab Nasser (Palestine)
Atlas Film Gallery (The film is in the final stages of editing and is aiming to premiere at the festival)
“The Lady” Marwan Hamed (Egypt)
The 21st edition of the festival is scheduled to run from November 29 to December 7 in the old Moroccan city.