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U.S. director Jeff Nichols has been named as the 2024 patron of the Marrakech International Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops, as the talent and project incubator also unveils the projects selected for this year’s edition.
Launched in 2018, the initiative has supported a raft of emerging and more established filmmakers and their projects, hailing from Morocco, the Arab world, and Africa.
Nichols – whose filmography includes 2011 Cannes Critics’ Week winner Take Shelter, Cannes Palme d’Or contenders Mud (2012) and Loving (2016) as well as more recent credit The Bikeriders – is the second announced patron.
The role was created last year, with Martin Scorsese due to kick off the inaugural patronship, but he was forced to cancel his Marrakech trip for personal reasons at the eleventh hour.
Nichols will take part in a number of sessions with selected projects in development and post-production. This year’s cohort of filmmakers will be known as the Class of Jeff Nichols.
“I’m thrilled to visit this incredible festival for the first time. Accepting the position as Patron to this year’s Atlas Workshops is an honor, and I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to share in the journey these filmmakers are on,” said the director.
“Interacting with other filmmakers is always an inspiration to me, and I hope my involvement helps them on their path to getting their films out into the world.”
Project details
This year’s Atlas Workshops will host 17 projects in development and 10 films in production or post-production from 13 countries, selected from 320 applications received from across the African continent and the Arab world.
Highlights in development include Alicante, the first fiction feature from French-Palestinian-Algerian director Lina Soualem after her award-winning documentary Bye Bye Tiberias. From Morocco, Talal Selhami will unveil The Shelter, his third film after the buzzy horror Achoura and fantasy thriller Mirages.
First feature films in development include The Source by Mouloud Ouyahia, whose short film The House is on Fire, Might as Well Get Warm was presented in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2023, and multidisciplinary artist Nuno Miranda, who explores the beautiful meeting of two soulmates amid mourning and exile in Flowers of the Dead.
Films in production or post-production include In the Shadows of Good Fortune by Nigerian director Babatunde Apalowo, whose All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White played in the Berlinale’s Panorama line-up in 2023.
The selection will also unveil first looks for Cherien Dabis’s All That’s Left of You (Palestine); Marwan Hamed’s El Sett (Egypt), his eagerly awaited biopic of legendary diva Umm Kulthum; and Tarzan & Arab Nasser’s Once Upon a Time in Gaza (Palestine).
The Atlas Workshops will unveil the first images of two films that participated in previous editions while in development: Zamo Mkhwanazi’s Laundry (South Africa) and Meryem Benm’Barek’s Behind the Palm Trees (Morocco), which were selected for the platform in 2018 and 2022 respectively.
Running from December 1 to 5 inclusive, the seventh edition is one day longer than previous years.
Project line-up for the seventh Atlas Workshops (* denotes first film)
Projects in Development
Alicante, Lina Soualem (Algeria)
The Beastly One, Walid Messnaoui (Morocco) *
Flowers of the Dead, Nuno Miranda (Cape Verde) *
Ici Repose, Moly Kane (Senegal) *
Lucky Girl, Linda Lô (Senegal) *
The Orange Grove, Murad Abu Eisheh (Jordan) *
Princesse Téné, Fabien Dao (Burkina Faso) *
Pure Madness (Pure Folie), Inès Arsi (Tunisia) | Doc *
Samir, The Accidental Spy, – Charlotte Rabate (Syria) *
The Shelter, Talal Selhami (Morocco)
The Source, Mouloud Ouyahia (Algeria) *
Your Turn, 2023, Cynthia Sawma (Lebanon) *
Atlas Close-ups (Moroccan projects in development)
And Still I Rise, Djanis Bouzyani, doc *
Dar Marjana, Lamia lazrak, doc *
Fatwa, Mohamed el Badaoui
The Field, Mohamed Bouhari *
The Nours– Yassine Iguenfer *
Films in Production or Post-production
Aisha Can’t Fly Away, Morad Mostafa (Egypt) *
All That’s Left Of You, Cherien Dabis (Palestine)
Bardi, Tala Hadid (Morocco)
Behind The Palm Trees, Meryem Benm’barek (Morocco)
Chronicles From A Siege Era, Abdallah Al-Khatib (Palestine, Syria)
In The Shadows Of Good Fortune, Babatunde Apalowo (Nigeria) –
It’s A Sad and Beautiful World, Cyril Aris (Lebanon)
Laundry, Zamo Mkhwanazi (South Africa) *
Once Upon A Time In Gaza, Tarzan & Arab Nasser (Palestine)
Atlas Film Showcase (film in final stages of editing and seeking a festival premiere)
El Sett, Marwan Hamed (Egypt)
Selected Moroccan Professionals at Atlas Station
Youssef Amar, Producer
Khaoula Assebab, Director and Producer
Zineb Chafchaouni Moussaoui, Director
Meriame Essadak, Producer
Aymane Hammou, Director and Producer
Hicham Harrag, Director and Producer
Samir Harrag, Director and Producer
Safae Lahgazi Alaoui, Director
Jabrane Lakhssassi, Director and Producer
Basma Rkioui, Director and Producer
