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Rabat’s Renaissance Cinema will host the 2022 HandiFilm Festival from December 1-4, an event by the Association HandiFilm in partnership with the Italian ONG La Nostra Famiglia in Morocco (OVCI).
Organized under the theme “cinema as a lever for empowerment,” the event aims to promote a film culture that welcomes disability as enriching and diversifying. The event includes 29 worldwide films from countries, such as Peru, the US, South Korea, and Morocco among others. Over the course of the festival, there will be activities including a roundtable, tributes, master classes, workshops, and debates.
Head of OVCI, Alessandra Braghini told Morocco World News (MWN) that “15 films will be presented in the Official International Short Film Competition, 13 in the Special Junior International Short Film Competition, and one in the Panorama section.”
In addition, the annual festival also includes a projection of short films produced by Handifilm. In partnership with the Regional Academy of Education and Training of Rabat Sale Kenitra (AREF) and Drosos’ Foundation support, these films are part of the OVCI’s four-year project around youth and inclusive cinema.
Braghini emphasized that the event is aimed at a heterogeneous public consisting of political decision-makers, social and cultural actors, and the general public.
The festival’s panel of judges will include the filmmaker, journalist, and director Khaoula Assebab Benomar, the director Fatima Boubekdi, the actor Mohamed Choubi, the journalist Maha Krombi and Mauro Borin, a cinephile interested in inclusive cinema.
In the interview, Braghini stated that representative of the president of OVCI Silvana Betto, Director of the Prever Institute, the President of the Italian association “CIP Cinema Inclusion and Participation,” social services of Pinerolo and Alpine Club representatives will also be present during the festival.
Braghini believes that the event wins the confidence of the public, artists, filmmakers, journalists of the press, and public institutions. “The Drosos Foundation fund our activities with young people throughout the year and provides technical support to improve our practices and reputation,” she told MWN.
In addition, Braghini notes that the festival has been under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI since 2015, reflecting the importance of the event.
A key challenge of the festival is its financial resources, therefore the organizers welcome the input of private organizations. Braghini indicated that financial support is essential to ensure the transportation and accommodation of their festival guests from all over the world.
The Handifilm festival is part of other projects based on youth and disability, including documentary films and youth and Open school: educational alliances for inclusion, supported by the European Institute for Cooperation and Development (IECD) and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).
