1- The organization of a film festival is a precedent in the history of the locality of Ouzoud? Why the choice of this region?
The organization of this Festival in the heart of the Middle Atlas in the locality of Ouzoud reflects the will of His Majesty King Mohammed VI to bring knowledge and culture closer to all citizens as a right for all, including those in mountainous areas.
It is in this context that the Sawt al Jabal Foundation for Heritage and Sustainable Development proceeded with the creation of an ethnographic museum housing my personal library of 3600 books that I personally bequeathed to the inhabitants of this region with the aim of encouraging the rising generation to read and learn.
In this vein, we thought about creating a festival around mountain cinema. Why the mountain? This choice is justified by the desire to move from academic writing to the culture of the image and visual writing that most of the new generations greatly appreciate.
Our ambition is also to design the mountain, not only as a geographical space, but as a tangible and intangible heritage which attracts investments and contributes to the socio-economic development of the region.
Beyond its industrial, commercial or recreational vocation, cinema is a lever for economic, social and cultural development.
It is in this perspective that we wanted to contribute to transforming this agricultural region which depends on rainfall, particularly in light of the water deficit, to find alternatives for rural development.
2- The participation of renowned filmmakers reflects the festival’s resounding success? How do you assess this resounding success?
Indeed, the festival was a great success during its first edition, given that mountainous areas had until then been almost absent from Moroccan film production.
Since the first edition, the beginnings of this success are beginning to take shape, as 14 countries have taken part in the festival, representing the four corners of the planet, which proves the influence of this Festival and the enthusiasm of filmmakers to take part in it.
The Festival also bore fruit just two months after its closing by hosting the filming of a number of film productions including “Bab El Kheir”, which was produced in one of the guest houses of Ouzoud and the famous popular series of “Baba Ali” in the Amazigh language.
Azilal is set to host a high-profile film production on a prominent figure in contemporary history, namely, Ahmed E Hansali and other major productions.
Among the virtues of the first edition, the support of the Moroccan Cinematographic Center for the construction of two dark rooms, the first, a large room with a capacity of 150 seats, and the second room, intended for the training of young people from the region in the cinema professions.
3 – How can a festival like this contribute to the development of this region with its strong mountainous dominance?
The festival contributes to the revitalization of local economic life by increasing the number of overnight stays in accommodation establishments in this region in addition to its contribution to reinvigorating local commerce due to the influx of film buffs and tourists as well as festival fans.
In this wake, an important memorandum of understanding for the training of young people in the Ouzoud region in digital professions and specialties was signed, with the aim of promoting the socio-economic integration of young people in this region.
This memorandum of understanding signed with the Ministry of Digital Transition, Maroc Numeric Cluster, and the Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, aims to train young people in the Ouzoud region in digital professions in order to promote their employability in the digital field and to promote the socio-economic development of the region.
Given the current situation of water stress, it is imperative to find alternatives that can improve the standard of living of the citizens of this region, which is the whole purpose of this festival.
We organized conferences in the presence of a host of intellectuals who addressed various topics related to the relationship between cinema and philosophy, history and heritage. The means of encouraging and facilitating the installation of producers were also discussed during these meetings.
2024-09-24 17:56:23