Randa Maroufi Wins the Leitz Cine “Discovery” Award with the Film “Lamine”
At the 78th Cannes Film Festival, during the “Critics’ Week” events, Morocco’s name shone brightly through the bold and unique artistic voice of director Randa Maroufi, who received the Leitz Cine Discovery Award for her short film “Lamine.” This award honors a cinematic work that transcends traditional forms to delve into the depths of human reality, reconstructing the forgotten memory of the Moroccan city of Jerada.
“Lamine” is neither a documentary film nor a purely dramatic narrative; it is a complex visual experience where the testaments of reality intersect with the aesthetics of art. The film returns to Jerada, a mining city that officially ceased its operations in 2001, yet its residents continue to extract coal from the earth using traditional and hazardous methods.
In this context, Maroufi chose to give a voice and vision to these “forgotten” individuals, featuring the residents themselves in their actual roles within locations they have reconstructed. This cinematic approach, which blends documentary representation with creative action, transforms “Lamine” into a living archive and a tool for questioning official history.
Randa Maroufi, known for her works that explore the boundaries between image and culture, belongs to a new generation of directors who aim not to merely represent reality but to deconstruct and reconstruct it through a critical and aesthetic lens. In “Lamine,” Maroufi maintains a high moral distance from her subject, opting for listening over appropriation, and anxiety over certitude, which endows her work with authentic energy and rare expressive power.
The Leitz Cine Award, presented by Leica Camera AG and Ernst Leitz Wetzlar, is one of the most prominent awards for short films within “Critics’ Week.” It is awarded annually to creations distinguished by uniqueness of vision and boldness in cinematic language. By honoring “Lamine,” Maghreb cinema gains a new qualitative boost, positioning itself as a cinema that interrogates reality instead of beautifying it, and excavates the forgotten layers of collective narrative away from folkloric clichés.
Within the Moroccan pavilion at Cannes, a celebratory reception was held attended by the filmmakers, personalities from the art and culture world, as well as representatives from the diplomatic and critical sectors. The celebration marked the culmination of a brilliant artistic journey represented by Randa Maroufi and reaffirmed Morocco’s renewed presence on the global cinematic stage—a presence insistent on free expression, far from market logic and consumerist discourse.
