Atlas Workshops Selects 28 Projects and Films

The Marrakech Film Festival has revealed the 28 projects and films selected for the 8th edition of the Atlas Workshops, whose patron this year is Romanian director Cristian Mungiu. The event runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 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 get back to Marrakech, a vibrant festival that uses the power of cinema to promote and unite people from different corners of the world. I gladly accept the position of patron of the Atlas Workshops for 2025, hoping that from this encounter, both the filmmakers I am going to meet and I myself will have a lot to learn. I believe cinema is a great tool for investigating reality and getting to know the other despite all stereotypes, and that we should use it as a tool to help us focus on what unites us rather than on differences of opinions we might have.”

This year’s Atlas Workshops includes:
● Twelve projects in development (10 fiction and two documentaries, including five first features) 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 debut features) from seven countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Yemen;
● Five projects from Morocco in the Atlas Close-Ups (five fiction films in development, all of which are first features);
● One Moroccan film nearing completion and seeking a festival premiere in the Atlas Film Showcase section.

This year’s edition of the Atlas Workshops features the most recent film by Palestinian directors Scandar Copti (who won the Étoile d’Or at 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 Burkinabe director Boubacar Sangaré (“A Golden Life,” a participant in the 2022 Atlas Workshops). Jordanian director Amjad Al Rasheed (“Inshallah a Boy,” which participated in the 2022 Atlas Workshops and was selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes in 2023) also presents his new project.

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

The selection brings together Moroccan filmmakers Basma Rkioui (an Atlas Station participant in 2024), Zineb Wakrim, whose “Ayyur” was selected for La Cinef at Cannes in 2023, Laïla Marrakchi (“Marock,” “Rock the Casbah”), and Asmae El Moudir, who won the Étoile d’Or at Marrakech in 2023 for “The Mother of All Lies.” Director Mohamed Zineddaine unveils exclusive first footage from his new fiction film in the Atlas Film Showcase. In addition, the Atlas Close-Ups section features five feature-length 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 2025 Atlas Workshops
Projects in development
“Akal,” Basma Rkioui (Morocco), first feature documentary
“Chapa 100,” Ique Langa (Mozambique), second fiction feature
“Chentian,” Suha Arraf (Palestine), second fiction feature
“A Childhood,” Scandar Copti (Palestine), third feature documentary
“Les Dieux Délinquants,” Boubacar Sangaré (Burkina Faso), first fiction feature
“Hold Me (If You Want),” Mounia Akl (Lebanon), second fiction feature
“Last Cow,” Amil Shivji (Tanzania), second fiction feature
“The Marches,” Vatche Boulghourjian (Lebanon), second fiction feature
“Siméon Idriss,” Zineb Wakrim (Morocco), first fiction feature
“Under Green Skies,” Jad Chahine (Egypt), first fiction feature
“Under Her Eye,” Amjad Al Rasheed (Jordan), second fiction feature
“Vanda,” Kamy Lara (Angola), first fiction feature

Films shooting 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 the Congo), first feature documentary
“Grey Glow” (Lueur Grise), Michèle Tyan (Lebanon), first fiction feature
“La Más Dulce,” Laïla Marrakchi (Morocco), third fiction feature
“Orient Adagio” (Qitar Al-Sharq Al-Bati’), Maha Haj (Palestine), third fiction feature
“Safe Exit,” Mohammed Hammad (Egypt), second fiction feature
“The Station,” Sara Ishaq (Yemen), first fiction feature
“Trip to Jerusalem,” Michel Zarazir and Gaby Zarazir (Lebanon), first fiction feature
“Vagabonds,” Amartei Armar (Ghana), first fiction feature
“Wolves,” Rami Kodeih (Lebanon), first fiction feature

Atlas Close-Ups
“Earth and Ashes” (Terre Et Cendres), Leyna Tahiri (Morocco), first fiction feature
“Into the Blue Night” (Vers La Nuit Bleue), Halima Elkhatabi (Morocco), first fiction feature
“Remontada,” Reda Lahmouid (Morocco), first fiction feature
“The Tanjawi” (Le Tangérois), Zahoua Raji & Ayoub Layoussifi (Morocco), first fiction feature
“Today, I Am 25 Years Old,” Shaden Safieddine Tazi (Morocco), first fiction feature

Atlas Film Showcase
“Until Dawn” (Jusqu’à L’aube), Mohamed Zineddaine (Morocco), fiction feature

Participants and short films in post-production selected for the 2025 Atlas Station
Atlas Station – selected Moroccan professionals
Lamia Bengelloun
Kenza Berrada Amor
Ines Lehaire
Linda Qibaa
Zainab Rabbaa
Fadila Taha
Oumayma Zekri Ajarrai

Atlas Station – short films in post-production
“Barzakh” (Barzakh: Le Monde Intermédiaire), Kenza Tazi (Morocco), second short fiction film
“The Bride of the Rain” (Taslit N’ounzar), Driss Ouaamar (Morocco), first short animated film in production
“Deserted Streets” (Rues Désertes), Batoul Benazzou (Morocco), first short fiction film
“Mesk Ellil,” Adnane Rami (Morocco), third short fiction film