Tetouan — Moroccan actors Omar Lotfi and Safaa Khattami won Best Actor and Best Actress for their performances in Nour-Eddine Lakhmari’s “Mira” as the 31st Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival closed yesterday.
Tunisian director Mehdi Hmili’s “Ightirab” took the Grand Prix Tamouda and the Mustapha Mesnaoui Critics’ Prize, leading the awards at the closing ceremony.
Christophe Dimitri Reveille’s “Les Survivants du Che” received the Mohamed Reggab Special Jury Prize, while Margherita Spampinato’s “Ô mon cœur” won the Azzedine Meddour First Film Prize. Nicolas Wadimoff’s “Qui vit encore” and Bàrbara Mestanza and Marc Pujolar’s “Sucia” received special mentions.
Moroccan actors celebrate recognition
Speaking to Lifestyle magazine, Lotfi described the award as a welcome moment in his career and thanked Lakhmari for the role.
“Winning this award for Nour-Eddine Lakhmari’s film comes at a wonderful point in my career. As they say, it came at just the right moment,” he said.
Lotfi also dedicated his award to cinema lovers and thanked Tetouan’s audiences for their enthusiasm. He highlighted the significance of receiving recognition from a festival with around three decades of history.
Khattami, who shared the acting honours with her “Mira” co-star, spoke warmly about discovering Moroccan cinema at the event.
“It’s truly an honour to be here today and enjoy these Moroccan works. I want to thank the Tetouan Film Festival so much for having me,” she told Lifestyle magazine.
The actress added that she would have loved to stay another three days to see more of the programme.
Filmmakers share a message of solidarity
For Spanish filmmaker Bàrbara Mestanza, the recognition for “Sucia” offered an opportunity to address survivors of sexual violence. The documentary draws on her experience of sexual assault and the process of confronting its aftermath through art.
“I just wanted to say to everyone who is listening to this that you are not alone. That happened to me,” Mestanza told Lifestyle magazine. “We have to keep speaking about this.”
She described feeling welcome in Morocco and suggested that audiences’ responses reflected experiences shared across borders.
Her co-director Marc Pujolar thanked the festival for encouraging cultural understanding.
“Through culture, we can understand that we have much, much more in common than separates us,” he told Lifestyle magazine.
Exchanges set to continue in Matera
Artistic director Ahmed Housni described the festival’s 31st edition as a success, citing its screenings, tributes and discussions.
“It was truly an outstanding and successful edition. We screened around 25 films, including 10 in competition,” Housni told Lifestyle magazine.
He highlighted tributes to filmmakers Hicham Lasri and Peter Marcias and Cypriot actress Popi Avraam, alongside two symposiums.
Housni also pointed to exchanges with Italian participants as Tetouan and Matera celebrate their designation as Mediterranean Capitals of Culture and Dialogue for 2026.
That cooperation will continue in November, when a Moroccan delegation travels to Matera to present Moroccan film screenings. The visit will extend the festival’s cultural exchanges beyond its closing ceremony and introduce Moroccan works to another Mediterranean audience.
