Marrakech – The Atlas Workshops, the professional platform of the 2026 Marrakech International Film Festival dedicated to developing Moroccan, Arab, and African cinema, return for a 9th edition from November 22 to 26. This year’s session falls under the patronage of Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho.
The 2026 selection gathers 30 projects and films from 14 countries, chosen from 410 submissions. The scale of that pool points to the growing interest the platform draws from filmmakers across the region. The lineup brings together emerging talent and directors already established on the international scene.
Mendonça Filho anchors the edition as its patron. He built his reputation with Neighboring Sounds (2012), Aquarius (2016), and Bacurau on the Map (2019), which took the Jury Prize at the Festival de Cannes. His latest film, The Secret Agent (2025), won Best Director at Cannes before collecting two Golden Globes and four Academy Award nominations in 2026.
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His work is marked by narrative and formal freedom, and by a commitment to independent cinema that aligns with the aims of the Atlas Workshops.
For the director, the role carries a personal dimension. “I am delighted to receive this invitation,” he remarked, adding that listening to new ideas and understanding the aspirations of new generations of filmmakers feeds his own work.
He pointed to Marrakech as a fascinating city that hosts an exceptional festival, and recalled being asked during his Conversation at last year’s event whether he had ever planned to shoot a film there. Serving as patron, he noted, makes him feel as though he is witnessing the birth of new films right before his eyes.
The selection itself was drawn from 320 projects in development and 90 films in production or post-production. It splits into three categories: 14 projects in development, 11 films in production or post-production, and 5 projects in the Atlas Close-Ups section, which is reserved for Moroccan cinema.
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The 14 countries represented are Algeria, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, and Tunisia.
Among the projects in development, 12 are fiction films, and 2 are documentaries, with 6 debut features in the group. Several are led by directors who have already drawn attention with earlier work, including Amjad Abu Alala (You Will Die at Twenty), Laila Abbas (Thank You for Banking with Us), Meryem Benm’Barek (Sofia; Behind the Palm Trees), Sofia Alaoui (Animalia), and Yasmine Benkiran (Queens).
The section of films in production or post-production holds 11 titles, 5 of them debut features. Four of these received earlier development support from the Atlas Workshops, which indicates the continuity of the platform’s backing.
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They are Samuel Ishimwe’s Seasons of the Weary Kind from Rwanda, selected in 2019; Alaa Eddine Aljem’s Eldorado from Morocco, selected in 2020; Yoro Mbaye’s Fagadaga from Senegal, selected in 2022; and Ismaël El Iraki’s Wolfmother from Morocco, selected in 2023. Their return at a more advanced stage reflects the long arc of that support.
The Atlas Close-Ups program, devoted to Moroccan cinema, features five projects: four fiction films and one documentary. Across all sections, the selected works move between personal narrative and political upheaval, between individual memory and collective history, and take in a range of styles and perspectives from Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers.
A separate track, Atlas Station, is built for young Moroccan professionals. This year it welcomes 8 filmmakers, four women and four men, chosen from 30 applicants, for a program focused on different aspects of film production and on exchanges with international professionals.
Atlas Station also supports five Moroccan short films in post-production, four fiction and one documentary, selected from 24 submissions, with help tailored to each film’s needs in final editing and distribution.
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The Atlas Workshops now sit within the Atlas Programs, which gather the festival’s professional initiatives and date back to 2018.
Alongside the Workshops and Atlas Station, Atlas Press supports the development of film criticism, while the Atlas Distribution Meetings bring together some 60 professionals from Africa, the Arab world, and Europe for networking and the circulation of films.
The Atlas Distribution Awards complete the structure by backing film distribution. The Workshops, Atlas Station, and Distribution Meetings run from November 22 to 26, and Atlas Press runs from November 23 to 27.
The professional platform unfolds within the wider festival, whose 23rd edition takes place from November 20 to 28. This year, the jury is chaired by Academy Award-winning French actor Marion Cotillard, who will decide the Étoile d’Or among the first and second feature films in the international competition.
Her presence at the top of the jury, focused on debut and early work, runs parallel to the mission of the Atlas Workshops, which exists to help those same films reach the screen.
Projects and Films Selected for the 2026 Atlas Workshops
Projects in Development
- Algiers Haze – Sarra Ryma (Algeria) | 1st feature – fiction
- America Is Behind the Door – Laila Abbas (Palestine) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Ashes – Meryem Benm’Barek (Morocco) | 3rd feature – fiction
- A Beautiful Land to Die – Amjad Abu Alala (Sudan) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Chronicles of an Unannounced Death – Dyaa Naim (Syria) | 1st feature – fiction
- Eko Gongon – Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (Cabo Verde) | 2nd feature – documentary
- The Highway – Farah Kassem (Lebanon) | 2nd feature – fiction
- A Lover’s Manifesto – Alfred Tarazi (Lebanon) | 1st feature – documentary
- Safara – Awa Moctar Gueye (Senegal) | 1st feature – fiction
- The Sleepers – Sofia Alaoui (Morocco) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Songs From the City of the Dead – Abdelwahab Shawky (Egypt) | 1st feature – fiction
- Studio Kébé – Dyana Gaye (Senegal) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Waltz of the Savages – Yasmine Benkiran (Morocco) | 2nd feature – fiction
- The Zebra’s Shadow – Gaël Kamilindi (Rwanda) | 1st feature – fiction
Films in Production or Post-Production
- 1986 – Mouayed Zabtia (Libya) | 1st feature – fiction
- Birthday – Lara Zeidan (Lebanon) | 1st feature – fiction
- Eldorado – Alaa Eddine Aljem (Morocco) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Fagadaga – Yoro Mbaye (Senegal) | 1st feature – fiction
- Faux Bijoux – Jessy Moussallem (Lebanon) | 1st feature – fiction
- Hamlet From the Slums – Ahmed Fawzi-Saleh (Egypt) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Mehal Sefari – Abraham Gezahagne (Ethiopia) | 3rd feature – fiction
- My Father Killed Bourguiba – Fatma Riahi (Tunisia) | 2nd feature – documentary
- Occupational Hazards – Bassel Ghandour (Jordan) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Seasons of the Weary Kind – Samuel Ishimwe (Rwanda) | 1st feature – fiction
- Wolfmother – Ismaël El Iraki (Morocco) | 2nd feature – fiction
Atlas Close-Ups
- Amar Made His Dream Come True – Samira El Mouzghibati (Morocco) | 2nd feature – documentary
- B512, the Man Who Forgot to Die – Jihane El Bahhar (Morocco) | 3rd feature – fiction
- The Cemetery’s Birds – Madane El Ghazouani (Morocco) | 2nd feature – fiction
- Like a Sister – Sonia Terrab (Morocco) | 1st feature – fiction
- Medina – Yassine Fennane (Morocco) | 4th feature – fiction
Participants and Short Films in Post-Production Selected for the 2026 Atlas Station
Atlas Station – Selected Moroccan Professionals
- Hamza Azeroual
- Rita Berrada
- Hiba El Abkari
- Roaa Idali
- Nadia Janati Idrissi
- Yassin Karmoudi
- Younes Lazrak
- Reda Zerouali
Atlas Station – Short Films in Post-Production
- Kanaf – Salma El Belghiti (Morocco) | 1st short film – fiction
- Only the Palm Trees Remain – Youssef Boucetta, Josh Brainin (Morocco) | 2nd short film – fiction
- Takzdouft: Ghosts of Mountains – Omar Hazmiri (Morocco) | 2nd short film – documentary
- Saida – Amine Zeriouh (Morocco) | 3rd short film – fiction
- Where the Sun Never Sets – Yassine Ouahrani (Morocco) | 1st short film – fiction
