Tangier film festival unveils competition titles
The national film festival begins tomorrow, with a large selection of Moroccan movies participating in different competitions in Tangier.
The opening ceremony will take place in the cultural center Ahmed Boukmakh, opening with a special homage to the deceased Nour-Eddine Sail, one of the most influential Moroccan figures in the audiovisual scene.
On her LinkedIn page, Nadia Larguet, French Moroccan producer and journalist and the late Sail’s wife, said that the minister of culture Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid will give an opening word in honor of her husband’s memory.
Back in 2007, Sail made the festival annual and formalized Tangier as the city to host it every year.
The director Kamal Kamal will also be giving a word followed by Larguet as well.
The night will pay homage to two active figures in Moroccan cinema, director Mohammed Abderrahman Tazi and producer Souad Lamriki.
The two opening movies are ‘Le voleur d’image’ and ‘Le grand voyage’ by Tazi.
The following festivities will take place in different hotels from 16 to 24 September.
The festival has three competitions, a feature film competition, a short movie competition, and a long documentary competition.
The feature film competition knows the participation of different movies from diverse genres, like ‘Jrada Malha’ by Idriss Rokh, a film distinguished by its bold aesthetic and attractive climate.
This movie has already participated in numerous international festivals (Toronto Festival, where it won the Best Film and Best Screenplay award), (Alexandria Festival, where it won the Best Director award); in addition to its participation in Durban in South Africa and Montreal Festival, and Buffalo Festival in the United States of America).
Zanka Contact is also participating, written and directed by Ismael El Iraki with Khansae Batma as a lead actress, the movie tells the story of Larcen who used to be a rock star, and Rajae who lives off unspoken trauma and position.
Khansae Batma was awarded for her role in Zanka contact in Cannes 2020 as best actress.
Joining her in the cast is a selection of famous Moroccan actors such as Said Bey, Mourad Zaoui, Ahmed Hammoud, and Fatima Attif.
Another movie on the list of participants is ‘Collapsed Walls’ by the iconic director Hakim Belabbes.
The story takes place in the city of Bejaad, which is Bellabes’native city. He used his distinctive artistic vision to take the viewer on a poetic journey into what life in small Moroccan villages looks like. The universe of the characters is predominant by feelings displaying their daily struggles.
The film brings together actors from different generations including Amine Naji, Hassna Moumni, Zhour Slimani, Sanaa El Alaoui, Hanane Benmoussa, Hamid Najah, Rabab El Khechibi, Younes Yousfi, Zaynab Alji, Nabil El Mansouri, Fatima Zahra Lahouitar, Amine Talidi, Yettou Nefaoui, Abdurrahman Elmokrani, Khalil Oubaaqa, Moncef Kabri and lastly Salah Laasri.
‘Green Card’ tells the story Habib and Labib, two inseparable friends who dreamt of a better life. For this, they participate in an immigration lottery to go to the United States “Green Card” and promise to leave together or stay together. Fate interfered and wanted Labib to win the lottery but not Habib which is why Labib had an infernal idea to accompany his friend…
The movie is directed by Hicham Regragui.
In the short movie competition, ‘Stylo Rouge’ by Moroccan actor, producer, and director Abdou El Mesnaoui Nassib is participating.
Abdou Nassib, a man of many talents, is a professor at the higher institute of audiovisual and film professions located in Rabat.
One of his old students, now an established musician, Haitam Bachari, produced the movie’s score and the editing was done by Idriss Fekak, another very talented old student of his.
Abdou Nassib told HIBAPRESS EN that the movie will premiere for the first time at the festival. It tells the story of a teacher in a village who’s attempting to implement a democratic system among his students.
The movie was shot around the Khenifra region, “It demanded to be shot in this area to be given a specific cinematic dimension”, said the director.
Mesnaoui said that he has a documentary in the making on Moroccan cinema in the 60s and he hopes that it will be done in two years.
From the same entourage, Ouijdane Khalid, yet another graduate of the institute is participating with her film ‘Tender Threads’.
Starring JALILA TALEMSI, ABDENBI BENIWI, NEZHA TEBAAII, it evokes the story of Radia’s uncomfortable living the routine of caring for her disabled mother which creates obstacles in her emotional life.
Ouijdane told HIBAPRESS English that as a Moroccan director, being selected for this national festival is very special. “This is the 30 selection of my movie, this selection in particular counts greatly because it’s part of a festival that cherishes Moroccan cinema for the first time after being stopped for two long years.”
