Atlas Workshops selects 28 projects and films

The Marrakech Film Festival has unveiled the 28 projects and films selected for the 8th edition of the Atlas Workshops, of which this year the Romanian director is the patron 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 vibrant festival that uses the power of cinema to promote and unite people from different corners of the world. I am pleased to accept the position of patron of the Atlas Workshops for 2025, in the hope that both the filmmakers I will meet and myself will have much to learn from this meeting. I believe that cinema is a great tool to explore reality and get to know the other, despite all the stereotypes, and that we should use it as a tool to help us focus on what unites us, rather than on the disagreements we might have.”

This year’s Atlas Workshops include:
● Twelve projects in development (ten fiction 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 fiction and one documentary, including five feature debuts) from seven countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Yemen;
● Five projects from Morocco in the Atlas Close-Ups (five fiction films in development, all first features);
● One Moroccan film is nearing completion and seeking a festival premiere in the Atlas Film Showcase section.

This year’s Atlas Workshops feature the latest films from Palestinian directors Scandar Copti (who won the Étoile d’Or 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 délinquants’ by Burkinabé director Boubacar Sangaré (‘A Golden Life’, a participant in the Atlas Workshops 2022). Jordanian director Amjad Al Rasheed (“Inshallah a Boy”, who participated in the 2022 Atlas Workshops and was selected for the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2023) also presents his new project.

The Atlas Workshops also include new work by Amil Shivji of Tanzania (“Tug of War,” presented at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival); Egyptians Jad Chahine (“The Call of the Brook”, selected for La Cinef in Cannes in 2023) and Mohammed Hammad (“Withered Green”, shown at the Locarno Film Festival in 2016); and Amartei Armar from Ghana (“Tsutsue”, a selection for a short film competition in Cannes in 2022). Participants from Lebanon include Vatche Boulghourjian (“Tramontane,” shown in Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2016); Rami Kodeih, whose work was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes and at the BFI London Film Festival; Mounia Akl, who returns to Marrakech with her second feature after ‘Costa Brava, Lebanon’, which screened at the Venice Film Festival in 2021; and editor Michèle Tyan, who makes her fiction film debut in Marrakech.

The selection includes Moroccan filmmakers Basma Rkioui (a 2024 Atlas Station participant), Zineb Wakrim, whose ‘Ayyur’ was selected for La Cinef in Cannes in 2023, Laïla Marrakchi (‘Marock’, ‘Rock the Casbah’) and Asmae El Moudir, who won the Étoile d’Or in Marrakech in 2023 for ‘The Mother of All Lies’. Director Mohamed Zineddaine unveils exclusive first images of his new fiction film in the Atlas Film Showcase. In addition, the Atlas Close-Ups section includes five feature 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 documentary
“Chapa 100”, Ique Langa (Mozambique), second feature film
‘Chentian’, Suha Arraf (Palestine), second feature film
“A Childhood”, Scandar Copti (Palestine), third feature documentary
“The Delinquent Gods”, Boubacar Sangaré (Burkina Faso), first feature film
“Hold Me (If You Want)”, Mounia Akl (Lebanon), second feature film
“Last Cow”, Amil Shivji (Tanzania), second feature film
“The Marches”, Vatche Boulghourjian (Lebanon), second feature film
“Siméon Idriss”, Zineb Wakrim (Morocco), first feature film
“Under Green Skies”, Jad Chahine (Egypt), first feature film
“Under Her Eye”, Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan), second feature film
“Vanda”, Kamy Lara (Angola), first feature film

Films that are being shot or in post-production
“Don’t Let the Sun Go Up 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 documentary
“Grey Glow”, Michèle Tyan (Lebanon), first feature film
“La Más Dulce”, Laïla Marrakchi (Morocco), third feature film
“Orient Adagio” (Kitar Al-Sharq’ Al-Sharq’, Mahaha Haj (Palestine), third fiction fix
‘Safe Exit’, Mohammed Hammad (Egypt), second feature film
“The Station”, Sara Ishaq (Yemen), first feature film
‘Journey to Jerusalem’, Michel Zarazir and Gaby Zarazir (Lebanon), first feature film
‘Vagabonds’, Amartei Armar (Ghana), first feature film
“Wolves”, Rami Kodeih (Lebanon), first feature film

Atlas close-ups
“Earth and Ashes” (Terre et centers), leyna tahiri (Morocco), first fiction film
“Into the Blue Night” (Vers La Nuit Bleue), Halima Elkhatabi (Morocco), first feature film
“Remontada”, Reda Lahmouid (Morocco), first feature film
“The Tanjawi” (Le Tangérois), Zahoua Raji & Ayoub Layoussifi (Morocco), first feature film
“Today I am 25 years old”, Shaden Safieddine Tazi (Morocco), first feature film

Atlas Film Show
“Until Dawn”, Mohamed Zineddaine (Morocco), fiction film

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 Ajarrai

Atlas Station – short films in post-production
“Barzakh” (Barzakh: The Between 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