HIBAPRESS – I. As-Smlali
The city of Mcharra Belksiri is preparing to host the third edition of the Women and Children's Cinema Festival, organized by the Benassa Association for Development and Culture from June 25 to 28, 2026.
This event comes with the support of the Moroccan Cinema Center, the Cosumar Group, and the Mcharra Belksiri community, in cooperation with the National Federation of Cinema Clubs in Morocco. The festival, in its new edition, aims to establish a culture of image and promote the values of creativity directed towards women's and children's issues, while opening up broad horizons for dialogue and the exchange of experiences between filmmakers and those interested from within and outside Morocco. This edition will also be a moment of exceptional tribute, where the spirit of the late director Mohamed Ahed Bensouda will be honored, in appreciation of his rich career and his qualitative contributions to Moroccan cinema, especially his constant preoccupation with women's and children's issues in his creative output. On the level of artistic programming, the official competition for short films witnesses the competition of 18 films for the edition's awards, under the supervision of a jury headed by director Fatima Boubkdi, and with the membership of artist Majdouline El Idrissi, writer Bouchra Malek, actor Abdo El Mesnaoui, and media personality El Houssine Chaabi. In addition to the screenings, the festival allocates a significant space for the intellectual and formative aspect through a round table on women's issues in cinema, moderated by critic Ahmed Sijilmassi, and a book signing of "New Cinematic Experiences" by writer Abdelkrim Wakrim. The program also includes training workshops in the fields of image and cinema, and special screenings for young people to promote cinematic education, thereby affirming the festival management's ambition to make this event a cultural appointment that combines training, discussion, and celebration of the seventh art.
