Morocco's Salé film festival puts women in cinema centre stage
The festival's 19th edition celebrates women filmmakers, examines the roles and funding they are offered, and subtitles its films in Arabic for the first time.
Salé — The Moroccan city of Salé has held the 19th edition of its film festival, an event built around the work of women in cinema, Africanews reports.
The week-long festival opened on 28 September, with nine feature films competing in the fiction category. As well as celebrating women filmmakers, it looks critically at the opportunities, funding and roles they are offered. The festival first turned its attention to Moroccan women in the film industry 22 years ago.
Firsts this year
For the first time in the festival's history, the films are being screened with Arabic subtitles, to make them easier for audiences to follow.
Several filmmakers received trophies on stage. They included Mohammed Abderrahman Tazi, whose career spans more than six decades, and who became the first male director to be honoured by the festival. He said filmmakers had a duty to show the situation of women in Morocco, and welcomed the dialogue between male and female directors.
A meeting place for African cinema
The Moroccan actress Bouchra Ahrich said the festival champions women's causes both through the films it shows and the women it brings together.
Baro Orokiatou, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Burkina Faso, told Africanews the festival is also a chance to find new films for other African festivals, including the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, known as FESPACO.
This report is based on reporting by Africanews.
