Marrakech has the indispensable Atlas Ateliers market as part of their festivities and the new kid on the block in the Red Sea Intl. Film Festival (second edition is held from December 1st to the 10th) has its own three-pronged Red Souk platform. Comprised of the Project Market, the Red Sea Lodge, and the Work-In-Progress, this 2022 showcase will promote 23 feature projects and 6 in-progress films including some titles that we’ve been tracking as major film fest offerings for a 2023 splash and newer items from established auteurs. Some names that jump out of the batch include Meryem Benm’Barek who saw her 2018 film Sofia win Best Screenplay award in the Un Certain Regard section and also a recent UCR participant we find Lotfy Nathan of just preemed Harka in Cannes. Algerian filmmaker Sofia Djama (who was a jury member in Venice this year) is looking for some extra coin for her upcoming A Quarter to Thursday in Algiers. The project landed some CNC support back in June. In the projects that will be ready for a definite 2023 showing we look forward to Banel & Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy – the project also received CNC coin back in 2021. Here are the all the participating films / filmmakers.
The Red Sea Souk Project Market: Behind the Palm Trees by Meryem Benm’Barek (Morocco/France/Belgium)
Darwin in Taif by Maha Al-Saati (Saudi Arabia/Canada)
I Am Coming for You by Cyrielle Raingou (Cameroon) Gura by Lotfy Nathan (Egypt/USA)
Men in the Sun by Mahdi Fleifel (Palestine/United Kingdom/Greece/The Netherlands/Denmark) She Was Not Alone by Hussein Al-Asadi (Iraq) Tigris by Haider Rashid (Iraq/Italy) Trip to Jerusalem by Gaby Zarazir and Michel Zarazir (Lebanon/France) Vagabonds by Amartei Armar (Ghana/France) Where is the Healer? by Tebogo Malebogo (South Africa/USA) Wolfmother by Ismaël El Iraki (Morocco/France) Yunan by Ameer Fakher Eldin (Syria/Palestine/Germany/France/Italy)
The Red Sea Lodge Projects included in the Project Market: The Settlement by Mohammed Rashad (Egypt) Yajuj by Fahmi Farahat (Saudi Arabia) The Last Argument Against Youth by Mohammed Algebreen (Saudi Arabia) A Quarter to Thursday in Algiers by Sofia Djama (Algeria) You Were the Poet, and I Thought I Existed by Sara Mesfer (Saudi Arabia) Tahweedah by Omar Al Omirat (Saudi Arabia) Bubblegum Brigades by Samah El Kadi (Lebanon) Dancing On Fire by Hana Alomair (Saudi Arabia) Aisha Can’t Fly Away Anymore by Morad Mostafa (Egypt) Dogmas by Salah Issaad (Algeria) Scapegoat by Feras Al-musharrei (Saudi Arabia)
Red Sea Souk Work-In-Progress Showcase Projects: Banel e Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy (France/ Senegal/ Mali) Concrete Land by Asmahan Bkerat (Jordan) Hounds by Kamal Lazraq (France, Morocco, Belgium) Jewfro by Jack Markovitz (South Africa) The Burdened by Amr Gamal (Yemen/Sudan/ Saudi Arabia) The Mother of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir (Morocco/Qatar/Saudi Arabia/Egypt)
Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).
