Marrakech International Film Festival (MIFF) is deploying a twofold tactic for its upcoming 21st edition to give a boost to its local theatrical
Marrakech International Film Festival (MIFF) is deploying a twofold tactic for its upcoming 21st edition to give a boost to its local theatrical distribution sector, and fuel wider global releases for Moroccan, Arab and Pan-African films.
“The idea is not to launch a market, but to create a platform whereby international distributors can discover films premiering in the festival’s selection and the projects at the Atlas Workshops,” the festival’s artistic director Remi Bonhomme tells Screen of the bespoke initiatives spanning both the festival (November 29 – December 7) and its parallel talent incubator the Atlas Workshops (December 1 – 5).
For the first time in its history, the festival has invited a delegation of some 20 international distributors to give them first look at films screening at the festival, particularly world and international premieres, and the projects in various stages of production showcased at the Atlas workshops.
This year’s delegation is mostly European with French companies like Haut et Court, Ad Vitam, Arizona, JHR and Sophie Dulac joining Italy’s Filrouge and Teodora Film, Germany’s Rapid Eye and MFA+ and delegations from Spain, Greece, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium. Curzon and New Wave Films will also be on the lookout for titles to take home to the UK.
Distributors from Morocco, Egypt and Turkey will also be part of the mix alongside Pathé for North Africa and French-speaking countries from Subsahara Africa who can choose from the 70 films from 32 countries in the official selection to distribute in their territories.
World premieres include French colonialism biopic Fanon, about Martinique physician, psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon, and Simone Bitton’s documentary The Thousand and One Days of Hajj Edmond about the titular Moroccan writer.
Titles getting international premieres include Dania Reymond-Boughenou’s Silent Storms, Silvina Schnicer’s The Cottage, and Baya Kasmi’s Mikado.
Films from the Middle East, Africa and the Arab-speaking world are also on full display throughout the festival’s official selection including twelve that have passed through the Atlas Workshops, such as Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s Across The Sea, Muhammed Hamdy’s Perfumed With Mint, and Nada Riyad & Ayman el Amir’s The Brink of Dreams.
Atlas Distribution Awards expand
MIFF will further expand its Atlas Distribution Awards, launched last year to support films from Morocco, the Arab world and the African continent presented at the festival with financial incentives for regional distributors. The grant offers up to €5,000 per release in a single territory and up to €10,000 for multi-territory releases by one or more distributors. Distributors can qualify if they present a tentative distribution strategy for their films and commit to a wide release among other criteria. Organisers plan to award a similar amount of films this year.
This second edition will also feature a full day of discussions and networking during the Atlas Workshops. During the closed-door event, distributors who benefitted from support at last year’s awards will share their experiences and give tips for strategies that have worked for their releases. The aim is to encourage distributors to collaborate on future releases, and to aid Moroccan titles get theatrical play in other regions.
The programme has already supported a total of 24 theatrical releases inacr the past year, including 14 films for local distribution, with cash awarded to distributors of the films selected to aid with their theatrical release strategy. Among the two dozen films from last year’s edition are Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias, Ramata Toulaye-Sy’s Banel & Adama and Kamal Lazraq’s Hounds.
Asma el Moudir’s The Mother of All Lies, made history last year when it became the first Moroccan film to win the festival’s Étoile D’Or top prize before becoming the first documentary launch in Moroccan cinemas and, Bonhomme explains, “without our support, it would never have been able to benefit from a theatrical release.”
Luck Razanajaona’s Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story, which world premiered in last year’s competition, also got a boost from the award with a world tour that has taken it to festivals like Toronto and Seattle. It is now headed for upcoming releases in Kenya and francophone Africa.
“Our role as a festival is to participate in an industry-wide reflection about distribution and adapt to the realities and difficulties facing the ever-changing industry,” Bonhomme explains. ”We’re responding to what sales agents and producers have been telling us they need, which is finding a place for their films in cinemas amidst such festival exposure.”
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