The Marrakech Short Film Festival returns for its sixth edition from September 25 to 30, taking over several of the city’s landmark venues including Badii Palace, Cyber Park, The Folk, the French Institute of Marrakech, Meydene and the World Storytelling Café, Aujourd’hui le Maroc reports. Organizers received more than 400 short films from over 90 countries across five continents this year, which they say confirms the festival’s growing international reach and its ambition to make Marrakech a hub for circulating works, ideas and talent, with this edition placing particular emphasis on cultural diplomacy.
The national competition remains one of the festival’s pillars, spotlighting a new generation of Moroccan filmmakers. The Belarj Prize selection includes “Fading Candle” by Ismail Ait Lahcen, “Aicha” by Sanaa El Alaoui, “Two Ways” by Yassine Iguenfer, “MeskEllil” by Rami Adnane and “Behind the Curtain’s Edge” by Kacem Skalli, while the Nakhil Prize brings together “Aicha,” “Two Ways” and “Paradise Garden” by Sonia Terrab. The Behja Prize selection features Aziz Hattab’s “Phone Breaker,” Sandia Tajdine’s “Les Liens Invisibles,” Khadija Salamadina’s “Paradise Garden” and Mohamed Ben Seltana’s “65 Days,” alongside four additional Moroccan films screening outside competition.
The international competition draws filmmakers from countries including Italy, Iraq, China, Portugal, Australia, Albania, Lebanon, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Spain, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan, with an out-of-competition international selection adding works from Cambodia, France, Saudi Arabia and Spain. Malta is this year’s guest of honor country, with a program of nine short films spanning fiction, animation and documentary offering Moroccan audiences a look at Maltese creative and cultural heritage; Malta’s consul general said the festival participation reflects the country’s position at the crossroads of Europe and Africa and its ambition to deepen cultural ties and mutual understanding with Morocco.
Organizers said the festival’s screenings and encounters across the city aim to bring cinema closer to the public and build lasting relationships between visiting artists, professionals and the host territory, describing the balance between international and local programming as one of this year’s central directions.