This selection is presented in several sections: the Official Competition, Gala Screenings, Horizons section, the 11th Continent, Moroccan Panorama, Young Audiences and Families, and films screened in parallel with Tributes given to film personalities, according to a press release from the organizers.
Among the selection, eight films will be presented as world or international premieres, nine have received the support of the Atlas workshops, the Festival’s industry and talent development program, and fourteen will represent their countries in the race for the Academy Awards, the same source adds.
The Official Competition showcases new talent in world cinema through 14 first and second feature films competing for the Étoile d’or awarded by a jury headed by filmmaker Bong Joon-ho. This year’s selection reveals a current, politically aware cinema that questions the injustices of the world through intimate or historical narratives, carried by great freedom of tone and remarkable formal audacity.
Presented as a world premiere, Meryem Benm’Barek’s “Behind the Palm Trees” examines, through a tense psychological thriller, the class relations and social domination inherited from the colonial past. Australian photographer James J. Robinson will unveil the international premiere of “First Light”, a visually striking moral drama in which a Filipino nun questions her faith in the face of corruption.
Several filmmakers revisit decisive political moments in their countries through semi-autobiographical narratives, including Shih-Han Tsao’s “Before the Bright Day,” which evokes the anxiety of a generation under the threat of war in Taiwan in 1996, Akinola Davies Jr.’s “My Father’s Shadow,” which follows a father and his sons in Nigeria during the 1993 election crisis, and Zamo Mkhwanazi’s “Laundry,” which recounts the dreams of a young South African under the apartheid regime.
Two debut feature films by Siyou Tan (Amoeba) and Imran Perretta (Ish) accurately explore teenage friendship in the face of political awakening, respectively in Singapore and subruban London. Three films portray women who demonstrate resistance and reinvent their destinies: Erige Sehiri’s “Promised Sky,” a luminous tale of female solidarity in the face of racism in Tunisia; Ondřej Provazník’s “Broken Voices,” a chilling drama about abuse of authority; and Morad Mostafa’s “Aisha Can’t Fly Away,” a fantasy thriller that follows a Sudanese woman in quest for freedom in Cairo.
In the deeply moving documentaries “Memory” and “My Father and Qaddafi,” directors Vladlena Sandu and Jihane K, respectively, revisit their childhoods in Chechnya and Libya, weaving powerful family narratives at the crossroads of personal memory and collective history.
In addition, “Straight Circle,” an incisive satire on the absurdity of conflict, reveals Oscar Hudson’s astonishing visual inventiveness, while “Forastera,” a luminous summer tale of mourning by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias, testifies to the vitality of young contemporary cinema, as it combines formal audacity with universal emotion.
The nine Gala Screenings will showcase a selection of the most eagerly awaited international films of the year. This 22nd edition will open with “Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant’s jubilant black comedy, which delivers a brilliant satire on the media and capitalism. Maryam Touzani will present “Calle Málaga,” a tender and generous portrait of a woman from the Spanish community in Tangier, beautifully interpreted by Carmen Maura.
As part of the Tributes program, Guillermo del Toro will unveil his gothic and romantic vision of “Frankenstein” with Jacob Elordi, while Jodie Foster will present “A Private Life,” Rebecca Zlotowski’s delightful crime comedy.
Two world premieres will bring together the biggest stars of Egyptian and Tunisian cinema: “El Sett,” Marwan Hamed’s biopic about the diva Oum Kalthoum, played by Mona Zaki, and “Sophia,” a chilling thriller directed by Dhafer L’Abidine, who also plays the lead role.
A gala evening will celebrate Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” a moving tale of family love, in which the loss of a child inspires the legend of Hamlet. Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan will present “Homebound,” a touching melodrama about the friendship and dreams of two young Indians played by rising Bollywood stars Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa.
The festival will close with Annemarie Jacir’s “Palestine 36,” which brings together some of the Arab world’s greatest actors in a historical drama recounting a decisive moment for the Palestinian people together.
The Horizons section presents 19 contemporary films that offer a panorama of world cinema, including both eagerly awaited works from new and established filmmakers.
It welcomes new works from major filmmakers such as Park Chan-wook, Claire Denis, Valérie Donzelli, Ildikó Enyedi, Jim Jarmusch, Richard Linklater, Kelly Reichardt, and Jafar Panahi, while also highlighting a new generation of auteurs: Ali Asgari (Divine Comedy), Simón Mesa Soto (A Poet), Teona Strugar Mitevska (Mother), and Mélisa Godet (A place for Her).
The Horizons selection also celebrates the vitality of Arab cinema, with several films that have been noticed at major festivals, namely Cherien Dabis’ “What’s Left of Us,” acclaimed at Sundance Film Festival, Hasan Hadi’s “The President’s Cake,” and Arab Nasser & Tarzan Nasser’s “Once Upon a Time in Gaza,” both of which won awards at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as two notable works that saw success at the Venice International Film Festival : “A Sad and Beautiful World” by Cyril Aris and “The Voice of Hind Rajab” by Kaouther Ben Hania.
Two captivating documentaries complete this selection: Raoul Peck’s “Orwell: 2+2=5” and Hélène Harder’s “Fatna, a Woman Named Rachid,” presented as a world premiere.
In addition, the “11th Continent” program consists of six fiction films and nine innovative documentaries that explore cinema without borders, free in both form and vision.
This selection presents new films by critically acclaimed filmmakers including (Massoud Bakhshi, Lucrecia Martel, Oliver Laxe, Hlynur Pálmason) while celebrating daring auteurs such as Kamal Aljafari, Lana Daher, Damien Hauser, Dima El-Hor, Gianluca Matarrese, Namir Abdel Messeeh, Lemohang Mosese, and Tamara Stepanyan. The program also includes restored versions of three classics of Arab cinema, including Ahmed Bouanani’s Mirage (1980), which has been restored especially for the occasion.
The Moroccan Panorama Cinema delivers seven feature films and documentaries directed by Moroccan filmmakers, of which two are being unveiled as world or international premieres: “Five Eyes” by Karim Debbagh and “Porte Bagage” by Abdelkarim El-Fassi. Moroccan cinema will be further highlighted with a total of 15 films presented in the various sections of the festival.
The Young Audiences & Families section offers a program aimed at children and youth aged 4 to 18, as well as families, with 13 screenings that celebrate curiosity and an awakening to the art of cinema.
Finally, a selection of films by and featuring Jodie Foster, Guillermo del Toro, Raouya, and Hussein Fahmi, personalities to whom the festival offers tributes this year, will be presented at the Palais des Congrès, the Cinéma le Colisée, and the Musée Yves Saint-Laurent, rounding up this year’s wealth of 82 films, the press release concludes.
Editorial team/le7tv