The Marrakech Film Festival has unveiled the 28 projects and films selected for the 8th edition of the Atlas Workshops, whose sponsor this year is the Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. The event runs from November 30 to December 4.
Mungiu, who won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2007 for “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”, said: “I am very happy to return to Marrakech, a dynamic festival that uses the power of cinema to promote and unite people from different corners of the world. I accept with pleasure the position of patron of the Ateliers de l’Atlas for 2025, hoping that from this meeting, the filmmakers I will meet and I will gain a lot to learn. I believe that cinema is a wonderful tool for investigating reality and knowing others despite all stereotypes, and that we should use it as a tool to help us focus on what unites us rather than on the differences of opinion we might have.
This year’s Atlas workshops include:
● Twelve projects in development (10 fictions and two documentaries, including five first feature films) from nine countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mozambique, Palestine and Tanzania;
● Ten films in production or post-production (nine fictions and one documentary, including five first feature films) from seven countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Yemen;
● Five Moroccan projects in the Atlas Close-Ups (five fiction films in development, all first feature films);
● A Moroccan film nearing completion and seeking a festival premiere in the Atlas Film Showcase section.
This year’s edition of the Ateliers de l’Atlas presents the latest film from Palestinian directors Scandar Copti (Gold Star in Marrakech last year for “Happy Holidays”) and Maha Haj (“Personal Affairs”, “Mediterranean Fever”), as well as an adaptation of Augustin Sondé Coulibaly’s 1982 novel “Les Dieux delinquents” by Burkinabé director Boubacar Sangaré (“Une vie en or”, participating in the Atlas Workshops 2022). Jordanian director Amjad Al Rasheed (“Inshallah a boy”, who participated in the Atlas Workshops 2022 and was selected for Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2023) also presents his new project.
The Atlas Workshops also include new work by Tanzanian Amil Shivji (“Tug of War,” presented at the Toronto Film Festival in 2021); the Egyptians Jad Chahine (“The Call of the Stream”, selected at La Cinef in Cannes in 2023) and Mohammed Hammad (“Withered Green”, screened at the Locarno Festival in 2016); and the Ghanaian Amartei Armar (“Tsutsue”, selection in the short film competition at Cannes in 2022). Participants from Lebanon include Vatche Boulghourjian (“Tramontane,” screened at Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2016); Rami Kodeih, whose work has been presented at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and the BFI London Film Festival; Mounia Akl, who returns to Marrakech with her second feature film after “Costa Brava, Lebanon”, presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2021; and editor Michèle Tyan, who is making her debut in fiction cinema in Marrakech.
The selection brings together Moroccan filmmakers Basma Rkioui (participant in Atlas Station in 2024), Zineb Wakrim, whose “Ayyur” was selected at La Cinef in Cannes in 2023, Laïla Marrakchi (“Marock”, “Rock the Casbah”) and Asmae El Moudir, who won the Etoile d’Or in Marrakech in 2023 for “The Mother of All lies.” Director Mohamed Zineddaine exclusively reveals the first images of his new fiction film at the Atlas Film Showcase. Furthermore, the Atlas Close-Ups section presents five feature film projects in development, led by Moroccan filmmakers Halima Elkhatabi, Reda Lahmouid, Zahoua Raji and Ayoub Layoussifi, Shaden Safieddine Tazi and Leyna Tahiri.
Projects and films selected for the Atlas Workshops 2025
Projects in development
“Akal”, Basma Rkioui (Morocco), first feature-length documentary
“Chapa 100,” Ique Langa (Mozambique), second fiction feature
“Chentian”, Suha Arraf (Palestine), second feature film
“A Childhood”, Scandar Copti (Palestine), third feature documentary
“The Delinquent Gods,” Boubacar Sangaré (Burkina Faso), first fiction feature
“Hold me (if you want)”, Mounia Akl (Lebanon), second feature film
“Last Cow”, Amil Shivji (Tanzania), second fiction feature film
“Les Marches”, Vatche Boulghourjian (Lebanon), second fiction feature film
“Siméon Idriss”, Zineb Wakrim (Morocco), first fiction feature film
“Under a green sky”, Jad Chahine (Egypt), first fiction feature film
“Under Her Eye”, Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan), second feature film
“Vanda”, Kamy Lara (Angola), first fiction feature film
Films in production or in post-production
“Don’t let the sun rise on me”, Asmae El Moudir (Morocco), second feature documentary
“Goma Enough Is Enough” (Goma Trop C’est Trop), Elisé Sawasawa (Democratic Republic of Congo), first feature-length documentary
“Grey Glow”, Michèle Tyan (Lebanon), first fiction feature
“La Más Dulce”, Laïla Marrakchi (Morocco), third fiction feature film
“Orient Adagio” (Qitar Al-Sharq’ Al-Sharq’, Maha Haj (Palestine), third fiction correction
“Safe Exit”, Mohammed Hammad (Egypt), second feature film
“The Station”, Sara Ishaq (Yemen), first fiction feature film
“Journey to Jerusalem”, Michel Zarazir and Gaby Zarazir (Lebanon), first fiction feature film
“Vagabonds”, Amartei Armar (Ghana), first fiction feature film
“Wolves”, Rami Kodeih (Lebanon), first fiction feature film
Close-ups of the Atlas
“Terre et Cendres” (Earth and centers), leyna tahiri (Morocco), first fiction novel
“Into the Blue Night” (Vers La Nuit Bleue), Halima Elkhatabi (Morocco), first fiction feature film
“Remontada”, Reda Lahmouid (Morocco), first fiction feature film
“Les Tanjawi” (Le Tangérois), Zahoua Raji & Ayoub Layoussifi (Morocco), first fiction feature film
“Today I am 25 years old”, Shaden Safieddine Tazi (Morocco), first fiction feature film
Atlas Film Showcase
“Until Dawn”, Mohamed Zineddaine (Morocco), fiction feature
Participants and short films in post-production selected for Atlas Station 2025
Atlas Station – selected Moroccan professionals
Lamia Bengellon
Kenza Berrada Love
Ines Lehaire
Protect Qibaa
Zainab Rabbi
Fadila Taha
Oumayma Zekri Ajarraï
Atlas Station – short films in post-production
“Barzakh” (Barzakh: The Intermediate World), Kenza Tazi (Morocco), second short fiction film
“The Bride of the Rain” (Taslit N’ounzar), Driss Ouaamar (Morocco), first animated short film in production
“Deserted Streets”, Batoul Benazzou (Morocco), first short fiction film
“Mesk Ellil”, Adnane Rami (Morocco), third short fiction film
