Rabat — In a first for Moroccan cinema, director Nabil Ayouch has been appointed president of the international competition jury at the 47th Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which runs this year from November 11 to 20. 

Ayouch will lead a panel responsible for choosing the winners of the competition’s Golden and Silver Pyramids. He will be joined by Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, German-Syrian filmmaker Ameer Fakher Eldin, Egyptian actress Ghada Adel, Belgian director Laura Wandel and British sound engineer Paul Davies.

The Cairo International Film Festival

Founded in 1976, the Cairo International Film Festival has been running for fifty years and reaches its 47th edition this November. It is the only festival in the Arab world and on the African continent to hold Category A status, a classification that places it among the most important film events worldwide.

The festival’s international competition culminates in the awarding of two prizes, the Golden Pyramid and the Silver Pyramid. This year, the task of selecting the winners falls to a jury led by Ayouch.

Three decades of filmmaking

Ayouch, who sits in both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscars, and the Académie des César, has spent thirty years shaping a bold and singular filmography. 

His breakthrough came with “Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets,” which follows street children in Casablanca and went on to collect more than 40 international awards. “Horses of God” traced the trajectories of young men from the Sidi Moumen district who ended up involved in the 2003 Casablanca attacks. The film was selected for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section and earned the François Chalais Prize.

Other major titles followed. “Much Loved” was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in 2015, Razzia was part of the Platform program at the Toronto festival in 2017, Casablanca Beats competed for the official prize at Cannes in 2021, and “Everybody Loves Touda” was included in Cannes’ official selection in 2024. Nearly all of his films have been put forward as Morocco’s submission for the Oscars.

Ayouch also founded the production company Ali n’ Productions, which backs the work of filmmaker Maryam Touzani, including Adam, “The Blue Caftan” and “Calle Málaga.” He created the Ali Zaoua Foundation, which uses art and culture to support young people from underprivileged neighborhoods and to foster social change.