Rabat – The Moroccan film “Monsters” by Moroccan filmmaker Mohamed Fauzi, also known as Aksel Rifman, won five awards, including Best Movie, at the fifth South African International Film Festival in Johannesburg.
The film also won awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role, which went to Abdelouahid Zaouki, Best Director and Best Screenplay, credited to Aksel Rifman, and Best Film of the African Diaspora.
Speaking to Maghreb Arab Press, Rifman said he is “very proud as a Moroccan and African” to win these awards, adding that the awards will act as a catalyst to create better movies.
The Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture awarded “Monsters” the title of Best Amazigh Movie of the Year in 2019.
Rifman’s film also won Best Feature Film at the European Cinematography Awards in January 2020
“Monsters” is an 80-minute psychological thriller in Tamazight (Berber) language. The film tells the story of a mob ransoming a rich family in the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, highlighting the struggles of human beings in pressured situations, as well as the results of the confrontation.
“What started as a simple theft ended up being a Matroschka of secrets,” reads the movie synopsis on its official website. “No one is safe nor innocent in the house.”
“Monsters” – Official Trailer
International festivities have shown Amazigh cinema before, as have Amazigh-themed festivals.
Paris hosted the first International Festival of Berber Films (FIFB) in April 2013. The city held the festival again in May 2015 with the theme “a springboard towards recognition of the new cinema claiming the Berber language and culture.”
According to FIFB Organizer Mohammed Saadi, the festival aims to promote Amazigh cinema, find new talents in acting and film directing, link Amazigh cinema with international filmmakers, and create aid funds to produce more Amazigh films
Read also: Moroccan Wins Best Actor at Cesar Awards 2020
