THE
Tetouan Mediterranean Cinema Festival (FCMT), which ran from April 27 to May 4, recently revealed its awards, highlighting eminent films and emerging talents. The “Tamouda” Grand Prize was awarded to the documentary “D’Abdul à Leïla” by
Leila Albayaty (Germany, Belgium, Qatar, Saudi Arabia). The jury was impressed by the courage, richness and magic of the cinematic language of this film in addition to its exceptional power to create a dialogue uniting the intimacy and depth of the story. This film took its director 8 years to complete. After amnesia caused by an accident, Leïla, a young French artist of Iraqi origin, reconstructs her story by getting closer to her family and delving into her roots. She learned Arabic, performed the poems of her exiled Iraqi father, and immersed herself in the history of Iraq’s Gulf War. It is the odyssey of a woman who sings her story to reinvent herself, driven by an irrepressible desire to live. Two Moroccan films were also distinguished in this twenty-ninth edition. “My father is not dead” by Adil El Fadili won the Azzeddine Meddour Prize for first work. The jury chose it because “it dares to take cinematographic liberties and draw the viewer into a magical world to better tell the social fabric of its country”. For its part, “Intimate Diary” of
Mohamed Chrif Tribak won the Best Actress Award thanks to the performance of Anissa Lanaya. The Moroccan actress was chosen for “her talent and freshness in the film”. The film revolves around the relationship of two lovers from Larache in the 1980s. It sheds light on the obstacles in a conservative society and unforgiving towards relationships outside of marriage. The Male Actor trophy was awarded to the Turk Faruk Özge for his masterful performance in front of the camera of his daughter Asli Özge in the docu-fiction “Faruk”. Another Turkish production was distinguished by the FCMT 2024 jury. “The Reeds” by Cemil Agacikoglu received the Screenplay Prize. Written by Arzu Agacikoglu and Cemil Agacikoglu, this film takes place in an Anatolian village at the foot of the mountains. It tells the story of the resistance of a young man, Ali, who fights against the domination of landowners and local gangs while striving to regain the love and affection of his wife.
Furthermore, the Mohamed Reggab Prize, Special Jury Prize, is awarded to the Spanish feature film “Muyeres” by Marta Lallana. The jury described this film as poetic, where sound becomes image.
In “Muyeres,” a man abandons everything and goes to the mountains to preserve the culture and music of the elderly women who live there. The film explores, with a sensitivity imbued with poetry, this ancestral territory bathed in the light of the moon and fire, and steeped in legends. With the composer and producer Raül Refree as protagonist and author of the soundtrack, reality and fiction mix in a black and white that captures the beauty of the Asturian mountains and the wisdom of all those wrinkled faces that, through the songs and music, transmit centuries-old traditions that contemporary emergencies threaten to extinguish. The jury of the official feature film competition chaired by Palestinian director, screenwriter and actor Elia Suleiman chose to give a special mention to the film “Pure Unknown” (Italy, Switzerland, Sweden). The jury praised the exemplary hard work of filmmakers Mattia Colombo and Valentina Cicogna for having restored the identity of those who in our cruel times are thrown into oblivion. “We thank the directors for introducing us to their film “Dr. Cristina Cattaneo.” Every night, nameless bodies land in Dr. Cristina Cattaneo’s autopsy room. She calls them “Pure Unknowns.” They are homeless people, prostitutes, teenagers on the run These days, it’s mainly about migrants, washed up by the Mediterranean Sea on the Italian coast. If all rights belong to the living, nothing is left to the dead. So what happens when the dead have lost their identity? Faced with this growing multitude, no one seems to care about their right to dignity. The twenty-ninth Tetouan Mediterranean Cinema Festival was a celebration of. cinematic diversity and artistic talent, highlighting engaging films and authentic voices from the Mediterranean region.
