Fez — Marking its 30th edition from Oct. 25 to Nov. 1, the Festival du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Tétouan (FCMT) will host the third “Ateliers de Tétouan,” a development platform for fiction and documentary features by emerging Mediterranean filmmakers.
Designed as a springboard from idea to screen, the Ateliers offer intensive story consultations, mentorship sessions, and one-to-one meetings with producers and distributors. This year’s call drew 138 submissions; 10 projects were selected after a rigorous review.
The pitching jury blends craft and market experience: writer and screen consultant Layaly Badr (Palestine/Jordan), author and academic Mohamed Noureddine Afaya (Morocco), German producer Christoph Thoke, and Spanish filmmaker-producer Ignacio Vuelta. Their brief is simple: help teams sharpen their scripts and set realistic paths to financing and audiences.
In documentaries, the cohort features Leila Albayaty (France), Ayoub Boudadi (Morocco), Aurélia Makdessi (France), and Fulgencio Martinez (Spain). Fiction projects come from Yassine Fennane (Morocco), Ines Ben Othman (Tunisia), Hamza Atifi (Morocco), Yilmaz Özdil (Turkey), Kenza Tazi (Morocco), and Essam Hayder (Egypt), reflecting the region’s range of voices and themes.
Beyond the lab room, the festival is bringing top producers and distributors from several Mediterranean countries to deepen co-production ties. For participants, that means practical feedback on scripts and access to decision-makers who can move a film forward.
Since its founding in 1985 by the Amis du Cinéma de Tétouan, the FCMT has been a champion of Mediterranean cinema and a hub for cinephiles. The Ateliers extend that mission by giving early-stage projects the structure, community, and visibility they need to travel.
For Tetouan—a city with a long artistic heritage in music and visual arts—the message is clear. With the right support, stories from the Mediterranean can reach further, connect more widely, and strengthen a film culture that speaks across borders.
