The curtain has closed on the 7th edition of the Atlas Workshops by the Marrakech International Film Festival. The winners proudly received their awards, including Linda Lo, director of Lucky girl, who clinched second place for development.
“It’s an autobiographical film told in three parts, about an immigration journey. I feel very happy because even if I hadn’t won a prize, I had an extraordinary week. There was synergy, understanding, and so much joy with all the participants. I love hearing about other projects, I learned a lot, and we had an exceptional mentor,” she says.
Egyptian director Morad Mostafa won the Atlas Prize for post-production with his film Aïsha Can’t Fly.
“The film is about Aïsha, a young Sudanese girl living in a district in the heart of Cairo, where she works as a caregiver for elderly patients. Every day, she goes house to house to care for them. We follow her journey through it all… We’re in the post-production phase now, and we’ve met many industry professionals, distributors, and producers. It’s been intense but incredible,” Mostafa explains.
The winners and jury hailed the selection of participants for the 2024 edition, thanks in part to the choices of Atlas Worksops head, Hédi Zardi.
“I had immense pleasure reading these stories. It was important to welcome them at the right moment, when they were ready to benefit from the support we wanted to provide. We also aimed to create a group dynamic, enabling the projects to engage with each other and mutually support one another throughout the workshops,” said Zardi.
The Atlas Workshops program, dedicated to developing young African talents, is an initiative of the Marrakech International Film Festival. The Atlas Distribution Awards aim to support the release and distribution of the winners’ films across Arab and African countries, as well as internationally.
Source: Africanews
