The Marrakech International Film Festival has announced the creation of Atlas Programs, a new banner gathering all the professional initiatives supported by the festival foundation.
The new structure will come into effect at the upcoming edition running from November 28 to December 6.
Marrakech said the development reflected its desire to increase its commitment to Moroccan, Arab, and African cinema by structuring its support and assistance programs for the new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers and producers in a clear and coherent manner.
The announcement was made against the backdrop of the Venice Film Festival’s industry focused Venice Production Bridge, at which Morocco is the one of the countries of honor this year.
The Atlas Programs will focus on four key pillars topped by the central strand of the Atlas Workshops.
Launched in 2018, the project incubator has evolved into a key meeting for Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers and producers with films at the development and post-production stage.
“Following their launch in 2018, Atlas Workshops established themselves very quickly as a must attend event for the region’s talents and for all international professionals who want to work with the region’s talents,” said Remi Bonhomme, who is artistic director of the Marrakech Film Festival and director of the Atlas Workshops.
“Every year, we have around ten films represented at the biggest festivals,” he added.
Buzzy festival titles on the festival circuit this year which were supported by Atlas Workshops include Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You which premiered in Sundance.
There were also four films in Cannes including Erige Sehiri’s Promised Sky, which opened Un Certain Regard, and Tarzan and Arab Nasser’s Once Upon a Time in Gaza, which won the Best Director Award in the same section.
In Venice, Cyril Aris’ A Sad and Beautiful World, which plays in Giornate degli Autori, was presented in the workshops’ work-in-progress and production showcase last year.
Several programs which have been created in the wake of the Atlas Workshops are now being integrated under the Atlas Programs umbrella.
They include the Atlas Station, which was launched in 2023, and provides 10 Moroccan professionals—directors or producers—with support aimed at strengthening their skills and opening up their projects to international audiences.
The strand will be expanded at the upcoming edition to invite five Moroccan directors working on short films that are in the post-production stage. The aim is to support emerging talents who are in the early stages of preparing their first feature films, while at the same time increasing the visibility of Moroccan short films at specialized festivals.
The festival is also bolstering its focus on distribution by further expanding the Atlas Distribution strand, aimed at supporting the circulation of Moroccan, Arab, and African films to new audiences.
Since 2023, the strand had meted out the Atlas Distribution Awards recognizing distributors who are committed to supporting works from the MENA and wider African regions.
The strand will be further enhanced by the Atlas Distribution Meetings, a new four-day event that bringing 60 distribution professionals from the Arab world, Africa, and Europe in Marrakech.
Participating distributors will discover international films presented as part of the festival and Arab and African films in post-production that are participating in the Atlas Workshops.
“We did a test run last year with a delegation of 20 European distributors. They really appreciated it because it’s an opportunity to discover the films we’re introducing as world premieres in the festival as well as works in development or post-production in the Atlas Workshops,” says Bonhomme.
“We got a positive response and enquiries from people to attend this year,” he continues. “I think people also really appreciate the more intimate dimension of Marrakech.”
The fourth pillar is the Atlas Press program, which was launched in 2024 to strengthen the culture of film criticism in Morocco.
It consists of two, complementary components. The first provides training for journalists working in Morocco, who benefit from an advanced workshop led by an expert in the field. The second, designed for students, aims to inspire careers in journalism by training a new generation of critics capable of supporting the dynamism of local cinema.
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