From 5 to 15 October, the festival will feature over forty films, including features, shorts and documentaries. This year's guest of honour is Zahia Ziouani, an internationally renowned conductor whose extraordinary career inspired Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar's film Divertimento, released in 2022. The guest country is the Kingdom of Morocco, whose cinematic renaissance is undeniable on the international scene. The festival website also allows festival-goers to support the Fondation de France in its efforts to help Morocco through donations earmarked for the victims of the recent earthquake in the Marrakech-Saifi region.
The festival will also feature stand-up comedy with Amine Radi (Morocco), who made his debut at the Jamel Comedy Club; gastronomy will be given pride of place with a meeting hosted by Sherazade Laoudedj, author and presenter of cooking shows in Algeria on Samira TV; storytelling sessions and legends, etc.
Here is the programme for the three main competitions:
Grand Prix competition, feature films, jury chaired by actor Zinedine Soualem:
- "Coup de tampon" by Rachid El Ouali
- "Indivision" by Leïla Kilani (Morocco)
- "Le voyage de Youssef" by Joud Saïd (Syria)
- "Collapsed Wall" by Hakim Belabbes (Morocco)
- "Poissons rouges" by Abdeslam Kelaï (Morocco).
Press award, feature films, jury chaired by journalist Nadia Meflah:
- "Behind the Mountains" by ohamed Ben Attia (Morocco)
- "Goodbye Julia" by Mohamed Kordofani (Sudan)
- "Inshallah un fils" by Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan)
- "The Burdened" by Amr Gamal (Yemen)
- "Queens" by Yasmine Benkiran (Morocco).
Youth Jury Prize
- "Divertimento" by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar (France)
- "The Last Queen" by Adila Bendimerad and Damien Ounouri (Algeria)
- "Nezouh" by Soudade Kaadan (Syria),
- "A summer in Boujad" by Omar Mouldouira (Morocco),
Find the full programme here.