The opening ceremony of this festival, initiated by the association for cultural and artistic animation in the southern provinces, under the slogan “Dakhla, gateway to Africa” and which will continue until June 9, was marked by a tribute to Moroccan and African artists and filmmakers, in addition to the screening of the Moroccan feature film “Ana machi ana” by its director Hicham Jabbari.
Tributes were paid to directors Joseph Kumbela from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi from Morocco and Moroccan actress Majdouline Idrissi.
Another tribute was also paid to the director of the Moroccan Cinematographic Center (CCM), Abdelaziz El Bouzdaini, in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the enrichment of the Moroccan cinematographic scene.
Speaking on this occasion, the president of the festival, Zine El Abidine Charafeddine, indicated that after 11 editions, this festival is now an important Afro-Arab cinematographic event, which has carved out a place of choice for itself in the African and Middle Eastern cultural scene.
Mr. Charafeddine also expressed his determination to further develop this film festival and to promote the Dakhla destination, through culture in general and cinema in particular, saying he was impressed by the enthusiasm generated by this annual event.
The novelty of this edition, he continued, is the establishment of the “Dakhla Project” platform, aimed at supporting feature film script projects in progress, adding that this cinematographic mass is intended as an opportunity to promote cultural and artistic animation in the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region.
The 12th edition of the Dakhla International Film Festival will see the screening of a series of feature films, namely “Goodbye Julia” by Mohammed Kordofani (Sudan), “The Ghost of Boko Haram” by Cyrille Raingou (Cameroon), “I, Captain” by Matteo Garrone (Italy), “When will Africa come” by David-Pierre Fila (Congo Brazzaville), “Mami Wata” by JS Obasi (Nigeria), “Amakor” by Ahmed Alkhudari (Kuwait), “Three” by Nayla Al Khaja (United Arab Emirates) and “Glass of Friendship” by Naoufel Berraoui (Morocco).
Chaired by Belgian director Manuel Poutte, the jury for the official competition of this cinematographic event is composed of university professor Sanaa Ghouati from Morocco, writer and director Rahmatou Keita from Niger, Egyptian actress Salwa Mohammad Ali and director Michael Rayburn from Zimbabwe.
As for the short film competition, these are “Legacy” by Hussein Hijazi (Lebanon), “Lobi Ekosimba” by Kumbuka Maini (Democratic Republic of Congo), “Sous silence” by Mazigna Barros (Senegal), “Envoyée de Dieu” by Amina Mamani (Niger), “Al-Banjeri” by Moosa Nasser Al-Kindi (Oman), “Deasparence de Mrs. V” by Mena Yuosry – (Egypt), “Miss selfie” by Naima Ziani (Morocco) and “Salon de coiffure” by Fatima Wardy (Sudan).
The short film jury, which is chaired by Moroccan director Adil Fadili, is composed of Cameroonian director Mary-Noel Niba, director of photography Amine Messadi from Tunisia, Moroccan journalist Laila Ellab and director and editor Catherine Mantion from France.
The parallel activities of this event include a symposium on “Cinema and artificial intelligence: a trapped gift?” and a round table on “Cinema and the national narrative”, in addition to two meetings on “Cinema and distribution: Audiovisual diffusion strategies” and on “The cinematographic expertise of director Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi”, as well as a workshop focusing on the principles of filmmaking.
Similarly, film screenings open to the public are planned, including the Moroccan film “Les divorcées de Casablanca” by Mohamed Ahed Bensouda, in addition to animated films aimed at children.
Furthermore, this edition will be marked by the establishment of the “Dakhla Project” platform aimed at supporting feature film script projects in progress by producers and directors, Arab, African or those from the diaspora.
2024-09-08 00:06:28