Khribga: Curtain Falls on the Community Cinema Forum in Bir Mzoi
The ninth edition of the Community Cinema Forum in Bir Mzoi, Khouribga, organized by the Chourouk Association to commemorate the Green March and the glorious Independence Day, concluded with the Syrian film “Heart Attack,” directed by Amr Ali, winning the grand prize (the Eye Award).
The film tells the story of an elderly woman living alone, who awaits a visit from her son and his family on the morning of the holiday. Instead, she receives only brief text messages from him, leading her to a shock that results in a heart attack, providing a professional cinematic treatment of the themes of loneliness and family.
The screenplay award went to the film “Awakening After the Light,” directed by Nasreddine El Houfi, which depicts a post-war world where humans and machines struggle before a unique robot discovers the greatest danger, which is the repercussions of the war itself.
Meanwhile, the film “House of Fire,” directed by Nabil Jouhar, won both the directing and audience awards. It expresses the suffering of a child living in a world filled with fear and psychological pressure at home due to parental cruelty and his struggle with the delusions that dominate him.
The jury, which included film critic and journalist Ahmed Sigmassi and artist Abdelrazak Ould Amer, praised the efforts put into the other four films participating in the competition: “You Are My Obsession” by Mourad Betil, “White Wall” by Samah Badia Sannou, “The Last Solution” by Osama Achtiyba, and “The Visitor” by Hicham Atolik.
The closing ceremony honored several local figures, including Abdel Latif Dhaoufi, head of the Bir Mzoi municipality, and horseman Abdelghani Ben Khadda, whose team won the His Majesty King Mohammed VI’s Award for the Tbourida during the sixteenth edition of the Horse Exhibition in El Jadida. Commemorative awards and certificates of appreciation were also distributed to participants. The president of the Chourouk Association expressed gratitude to contributors and partners, including the Moroccan Cinematic Center, the Office Chérifien des Phosphates, the regional directorate of culture, the Memory Space of Resistance and Liberation, and local educational institutions.
The forum also featured an open session (masterclass) with film critic and journalist Ahmed Siglamsi, presented and moderated by artist Abdelilah Al Khatabi. This session was dedicated to presenting and signing his new book “Moroccan Cinematic Filmography: Feature Films from 1955 to 2024,” which chronicles seventy years of Moroccan cinema from independence until 2024.
The author reviewed the development of Moroccan cinema over the decades, highlighting the growth in production and the diversity of topics, as well as the contributions of directors who have left their mark on the history of national cinema, emphasizing the importance of supporting the national film industry and its writers and researchers. The session concluded with an open discussion and the signing of copies of the book in a friendly atmosphere, where attendees expressed their appreciation for this valuable documentary work.
