Rabat – The 2022 edition of the Marrakech Short Film Festival (MsFF) kicked off on Friday in Marrakech, under the slogan of “Ka Wla Maka” (To be or not to be).

“The idea came during COVID, and I forced myself to put on the first edition during the COVID period, one of the few cultural activities to do so,” MsFF founder and president Ramia Beladel said during the opening ceremony.

“Our message this year is that we are here to stay,” she added, emphasizing that the event’s second edition aims to cement it as a yearly cultural fixture.

One of the premier goals of the festival, Beladel adds, is supporting young talents in the industry and giving necessary support to cinematic productions.

The event’s founder and president Ramia Beladel (left) had the idea during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to screening short films from all around the world, the festival will also hold conferences and programs to support young aspiring filmmakers, notably by bringing producers together with young talent from the industry.

In addition to films submitted by Moroccan filmmakers, the festival will see the screenings of movies from Europe and the Middle East, with Palestine taking the spotlight this year as a guest country.

Palestine, Guest Country

Helmed by director Hany Abu Assad, Palestine’s A Boy, A Wall, and A Donkey kicked off the festival.

Although very short at a little over 4 minutes in length, the film seemed a fitting opening, depicting three young boys in Palestine attempting to make their own film using security cameras scattered around their area.

Dealing with an ambitious filmmaking youth faced with a lack of equipment and opportunities in Palestine, the film also examines – albeit briefly – the conflict between Israel and Palestine, when the boys use a security camera mounted on the West Bank barrier to shoot portions of their film.

The Palestinian movies at the festival will shine a light on diverse contours of Palestinains’ lives, from the Gaza strip to refugee camps and beyond, Palestinian Film Institute Mona Awdeh said during the opening.

“All these films tell ambitious and courageous stories that express Palestinian interests through different means,” she added. “Whether through animation, documentaries, or many others.”

The second day of the festival will feature more and longer Palestinian films in Ahmed Saleh’s Night and Suha Araj’s The Cup Reader, with the latter having been selected previously for the renowned Tribeca Film Festival.

A Varied First Night

The first night of the festival featured a diverse showing following the short opener by A Boy, A Wall, and a Donkey.

Italian director’s Teodora Pampaloni’s 16-minute long Babal was a representation of a fragmented humanity during the heyday of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evoking imagery of mask-wearing and in fighting between fellow humans, the film attempts to examine what tears humans apart and what might be able to bring them together.

Teodora Pampaloni, director of Babal.

Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Rabat Carmela Callea praised the film, calling it “very important” due to its relation with the COVID-19 period, and said she hopes to collaborate with MsFF in the future.

“Babal treats the relationship between cultures and languages,” Pampaloni told Morocco World News, emphasizing that the film deals with how differences in cultural identity or expression can spur conflicts.

From Poland, Bartosz Kozera showed his film The Stone, depicting the story of a miracle rock that cures physical ailments in those who touch it, and subsequent efforts by local religious leaders to enshrine it as a religious landmark.

The Polish Ambassador to Rabat Krzysztof Karwowski attended the screening, and expressed his excitement for his country’s participation in the festival.

“I am very excited to be able to participate and also to see how this short film festival will be conducted,” he told Morocco World News.

The Stone director Bartosz Kozera and Polish Ambassador to Rabat Krzysztof Karwowski were both in attendance.

Morocco’s entry on the first night was El Houssain Chani’s Perfume. Shot entirely in black and white and with little dialogue, and starring Moroccan actor Said Bey, the film looks at the story of a little girl and her father’s attempts to get ahold of her late mother’s perfume.

The last film shown is the work of the French-Moroccan director Zahra Berrada. Titled Alia, the film depicts the story of a Moroccan immigrant in France who crossdresses and works at a cabaret at night, putting a particular light on his struggles to navigate his relationship with a disapproving father at home.