The thirteenth edition of the Souss International Short Film Festival is being held from 21st to 24th instant in Ait Melloul in virtual mode.
Organized with the support of the Moroccan Cinema Center, the event, which falls under the theme “Cinema and social transformations”, was an opportunity to focus on the current cinematographic act in the context of social transformations linked to the Corona pandemic and its socio-cultural repercussions.
In his opening speech, the director of the festival, Noureddine Alaoui, said that he has sought, in cooperation with all stakeholders, since the beginning of the launch of the festival, to form a particular identity for the event, a form of Amazigh, Moroccan, human identity and specializing in short fiction and documentary films as well as in opening up to educational cinema and other visual arts.
And to add: “The festival works throughout the year to train and supervise young people in the visual arts, under the direction of experts and in partnerships with the civil society and various actors of art and culture. . These are the main objectives of the festival ”.
The manager also made a point of clarifying: “Despite a delay of two years, we have decided to organize this session remotely because of the urgent need for cinema at a time when human life and cultural and artistic activities in the world are besieged by the Corona pandemic… ”
In addition, the inaugural ceremony of the festival was marked by the presentation of the jury of the official competition of the International Festival and which notably includes the Iraqi-German director Nawzad Shekhani, the Spanish director Jorge Onieva Hermandez, the film critic Yasmine Bouchfer and the screenwriter Mohammad Al-Alaoui…
This ceremony was also conducive to pay tribute to the late Abdelkader Ababou, who died in January 2020 and who is considered to be one of the most important Moroccan directors who contributed to the enrichment of Moroccan and Arab theater both in composition, training, framing, training, supervision, theorizing and staging.
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