French Culture Minister Rachida Dati visited the Moroccan pavilion at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, May 18, 2025, which is being held from May 13 to 24.
This visit, attended by Aziz Bouzdaini, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication, and Gaëtan Proust, the President of the National Center for Cinema and Moving Image in France, provided an opportunity for Ms. Dati to converse with several young Moroccan talents participating in a joint production workshop between Morocco and France, where they are developing narrative feature films or animated projects.
She remarked, “It is an equal partnership, and we are gaining a lot from it,” emphasizing that the one-year anniversary of the agreement requires considering the next steps, as “we have already made significant progress.”
For his part, Mr. Bouzdaini, who also serves as the Acting Director of the Moroccan Cinematographic Center, confirmed that Ms. Dati’s visit to the Moroccan pavilion aligns with the follow-up on the implementation of the bilateral cooperation agreement signed in 2024, whose practical results are starting to emerge.
He further explained that, as part of activating this agreement, a joint call for nominations was launched with the French side a few months ago, noting that out of approximately twenty projects submitted, five were selected, mostly from young directors embarking on their first or second cinematic experience.
Additionally, professional “B2B” meetings were organized today alongside the festival, enabling these creators to interact with around 15 French producers to discuss potential collaboration.
Mr. Bouzdaini mentioned that two projects were presented to Ms. Dati: one is a 3D animated feature film, and the other is a classic narrative film that integrates artificial intelligence techniques with a touch of animation.
Morocco is prominently represented at the 78th Cannes Film Festival with a pavilion established by the Moroccan Cinematographic Center within the International Village of the festival, along with a dedicated space to promote Moroccan cinema at the film market.
