Teams from 10 projects in development and six films in post-production enjoyed mentoring sessions from international industry professionals at the Atlas Workshops 2019 during the Marrakech film festival.
The Marrakech International Film Festival, which concluded on December 6, distributed prizes with a total endowment of more than $66,000 as part of its Atlas Workshops. Prizes were awarded to Sweet Annoyance by Hiwot Admasu Getaneh (Ethiopia), The Original Lie by Asmae El Moudir (Morocco) and Ikimanuka – Seasons of the Weary Kind by Samuel Ishimwe (Rwanda).
Presented for the first time, the Artekino Prize from the Franco-German channel Arte was awarded to Le Meutes by Kamal Lazraq (Morocco). The jury of the Atlas Post-Production Awards presented award to The Gravedigger by Khadar Ahmed (Djibouti) and Zanka Contact by Ismaël el Iraki (Morocco).
Further, the Network of Alternative Arab Screens (NAAS), a collaboration of sixteen cinemas in Arabic-speaking countries held its general assembly during the workshops and awarded the NAAS Prize for film circulation to The Gravedigger.
Launched in partnership with Netflix, Atlas Workshops is a programme dedicated to African and Middle Eastern cinema.
Over the course of four days, the Atlas Workshops brought together 270 international professionals and 28 projects led by a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers. Participants attended a series of round tables opened by French-Senegalese director Mati Diop. The discussions focussed on the writing of genre cinema in the Arab world and the African continent.
Ten projects in development and six films in post-production benefitted from consultations with 19 international professionals before they were presented as part of a co-production market that generated more than 350 individual meetings.
