2024-05-09 05:38:31
In an interview with the newspaper Le Matin, Mr. Bonhomme returned to the importance of this international cultural event in promoting the cinema industry in Morocco and the African continent, noting that the festival supports a generation of Moroccan filmmakers. , Arabs and Africans through its professional program, “Atlas Workshops”.
He specified that this year, several feature films that participated in this program were selected at the prestigious Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Sundance festivals.
The Ateliers de l’Atlas intervene “upstream of the production of a film and at the time of writing and financing”, he indicated, adding that “by offering a media platform to some of these films , the FIFM extends this action by organizing their meeting with the public.
Referring to the place occupied by Moroccan cinema in this edition, he specified that this year, the FIFM presents 15 Moroccan films among which we find recognized authors such as Faouzi Bensaïdi to whom the festival pays tribute, the documentary filmmaker Izza Genini, whose works continue to explore Moroccan culture or even Hicham Lasri, eclectic director who will present the world premiere of his latest film.
The programming for this edition also highlights a new generation of Moroccan filmmakers, such as Sofia Alaoui, Jihane el Bahhar, Adil el Fadili, Leïla Kilani and Khalid Zairi, he added.
For the third time in the history of the festival, two Moroccan films will be in the running for the Golden Star: “Les Meutes”, a thriller tinged with black humor by Kamal Lazraq and “The Mother of All Lies” by ‘Asmae el Mudir, a powerful documentary that confronts the unsaid family. Among the 14 cinematographic works selected, 5 are the official representatives of their country at the Oscars.
In recent years, according to its artistic director, the Marrakech Festival has added new sections to its programming to “diversify its audience”.
The selection of the “11th Continent” makes it possible to welcome daring works and offers the possibility to a cinema-loving public to venture off the beaten track by coming to meet innovative filmmakers, he said.
“We also wanted to emphasize local cinephilia by organizing numerous debates around films,” he added, specifying that the festival is also open to young audiences who will benefit this year from “13 screenings dedicated”.
The FIFM also highlights comedy with an opening marked by the screening of the film “Hit Man” by Richard Linklater. This cinematographic genre will be presented in all its forms during the different stages of this international festival, he confided.
As for the films presented in official competition, they attracted attention for “their audacity, their generosity and the singularity of the way they look at the world,” said Mr. Bonhomme.
The Festival, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, celebrates cinema in all its facets with an eclectic program in the presence of the biggest stars of world and Moroccan cinema.
2024-05-09 05:38:31