Marrakech Film Festival grew up alongside Morocco's thriving film industry. When the festival debuted in 2001, the local scene produced just five films a year. Today, that number has grown to approximately 40, reflecting the diversity of initiatives aimed at nurturing and supporting new generations of talent.
Programs such as Master classes on Atlas have been instrumental in bringing aspiring creators to the international stage, and initiatives such as the women-focused Tamayouza Foundation, founded by three Moroccan directors and two producers, aim to remove barriers to entry. The foundation provides initial training for women interested in the industry, as well as financial support and mentorship in directing, screenwriting, production and post-production, and has seen significant growth in recent years.
Here are four directors from four very different walks of life who are making waves in Marrakech.
Measuring Essadak – Producer
Throughout her career, Meriame Essadak has had many roles, moving from education to overseas services and marketing before entering film through incubator programs with Tamayouz Cinema Foundation and Atlas Workshops. She currently has three feature films in development, including Mohchin Nadifi's psychological thriller La Piste. The project won a pitch competition at the 2024 Tangier Film Festival and was one of five films selected for the French-Moroccan co-production session at Cannes, a meeting that attracted serious interest from several French companies.
“Initially, Mohsin approached me to co-write the film, which I did,” she explains. “But when we started looking for a producer, I took the bull by the horns. I told him: “You have me. I am your warrior and I will defend this project with body and soul.” As a producer, I only take on projects that deeply affect me, because they require sleepless nights and a lot of mental energy. If it doesn't make me vibrate, it's not worth it—the connection has to be physical.”
Essadak is also developing “Potes” directed by Hamza Atifi and “Rajol” directed by Adnane Rami, both of which came through the professional laboratory of Tamayuz.
“Potes is about Moroccan students who go abroad to study and struggle to reconnect with home,” she says. “It is the voice of a younger generation that considers itself resolutely modern, only to discover abroad that certain expectations and attitudes remain unchanged.” Meanwhile, “Rachol” explores “what it means to be a man in Morocco today, in a society where women's voices are increasingly heard.”
Driss Ramdi – Actor
Driss Ramdi was born in Morocco and lives in France. He first played a supporting role in Mehdi Ben Attia's Berlin selection Je Ne Suis Pas Mort, earning a place on the Cesar shortlist for Most Promising Newcomer. Since then, he has built a strong career with roles in Rachel Lang's Baden-Baden, Emmanuel Hamon's Escape from Raqqa, Emmanuel Finkel's A Man of Worth and the hit Canal Plus rap series All the Way Up.
This year, Ramdi takes center stage for the first time as the tortured protagonist of Meryem Benm'Barek's Beyond the Palms, which premiered in competition in Marrakech. Looking to the future, he is determined to build on the emotional intensity and authenticity he brought to Benm'Barek's film.
“Now I want to work as deeply as I did on this role,” he says. “I want to make more and more interesting films. I'm very picky: I refuse cliché roles – a terrorist, a mindless bandit. I choose carefully. I want leading roles. I want to meet directors, immerse myself in projects in which you really invest yourself.”
Ramdi also explores a lighter, playful side in stand-up comedy. “That's actually what scares me the most,” he admits. “I write a lot with notebooks scattered around the house, but direct contact with an audience still gives me chills. I can stand in front of [someone incredibly famous, like] Brad Pitt and be super focused and super calm. But on stage… that’s my next challenge.”
Youssef Mihraf – Director
Youssef Mishraf was born into a self-described “lower-middle class family” and left his native Casablanca at 18 to train as an engineer in France. But once he arrived, he felt compelled to follow his true calling. He studied film at the Sorbonne before landing a directing position at the prestigious national film school La Fémis and soon set out to release his feature debut, La Dolce Temperament.
The film combines body horror with a coming-of-age narrative that centers on a boy so ashamed of his humble origins that he invents an elaborate ruse that soon escalates into a literal bodily transformation. Mihraf presented the project at Atlas Workshops in 2021, winning the International Artekino Award, and has since sought to take the film outside the French system after moving to Los Angeles.
“American friends are starting a production company,” he says. “They have willing financiers and things are going well. They are much more open than the French and are genuinely enthusiastic about the complexity and specificity of the film. In France, films set in Morocco have to live up to certain expectations, and I found that stifling. There isn't enough openness to nuance and complexity, whereas the Americans I met really valued the film's individuality and thought it was worth protecting.”
Leina Tahiri – Director
Leina Tahiry entered politics in an effort to “understand the world.” She soon realized that she needed a different language: “the language of emotions, cinema.”
After working as a development executive for In Therapy creators David Elkaim and Vincent Poimiro, Tahiry turned to Moroccan television, appearing in serialized dramas while developing her own personal projects.
While preparing her next short film, she also premiered her feature film, Earth and Ashes, at this year's Atlas Workshop. The film follows the tense legal battle following the death of the French-born architect, which leaves his Moroccan family and Gallic courts to decide whether he should be buried according to secular or Islamic traditions. On board will be Nabil Ayouch and Calle Malaga producers Amin Benjelloun and Jean-Rémy Ducourtiou.
“I realized that this situation happens often,” Tahiri says. “The question also arises: funerals for the dead or the living?”
“Like many children of immigrants, I ask myself a lot of questions,” she adds. “I grew up in France, built my career in Morocco, and want to explore these cultural dynamics. Nabil is also a dual-cultural person, so this resonated with him immediately. So many people share similar stories from their lives – what happened to my aunt, my grandmother. Everyone has a story that resonates with this film, which makes it universal.”
