Oujda — The 15th Oujda International Maghreb Film Festival opened yesterday, welcoming filmmakers, actors and audiences for an edition that combines international exchanges with a focus on training young people. Running until October 21, the festival celebrates Emirati cinema as its guest of honor.
“Our work is no longer limited to organizing the festival itself,” festival director Khalid Sli told Lifestyle ùagazine. “We work throughout the year on training programs and helping young people develop their skills, encouraging them to consider cinema as a profession that can also generate income.”
For Sli, who heads the organizing Ciné-Maghreb association, the opportunities become clear when audiences look at a film’s closing credits. He pointed to productions involving 60 to 80 people, highlighting the range of jobs behind the images on screen.
Helping young people find a place in cinema
Sli encouraged young people to approach the association and Mohammed First University, where he highlighted a degree program in audiovisual studies, cinema and cultural industries as a possible route into the profession.
The festival’s program reflects that ambition through workshops on cinema professions led by screenwriter Abdelkader Mansour and screenwriting sessions with filmmaker Abdeslam Kelai. These activities place practical learning alongside screenings and conversations with industry guests.
His emphasis is on sustaining that work throughout the year, giving aspiring filmmakers opportunities to develop their skills beyond the annual gathering.
Sana Youssef returns to a familiar city
For Tunisian actress Sana Kassous Youssef, who also holds a qualification in directing, this edition marks a return to a city that holds personal significance. Serving on the feature-film jury, she recalled that an earlier invitation to the festival had brought her to Morocco for the first time. She has also previously been honored in Oujda.
Speaking to Lifestyle magazine, Youssef expressed her happiness at returning and seeing how the festival has developed. She welcomed the opportunity to reconnect with fellow actors and filmmakers, emphasising the sense of togetherness surrounding the event.
“Oujda brings us together,” she said, expressing her hope that cinema would continue to do the same.
Youssef joins a feature-film jury chaired by Moroccan director and screenwriter Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, alongside Senegalese artist Amélie Mbaye, actress and filmmaker Mi Kwan Lock, and French actor Stan Thiébaut.
Emirati cinema meets Moroccan audiences
This year’s international exchanges include the presentation of “Hoba,” directed by Emirati filmmaker Majid Al Ansari and produced by Image Nation and Spooky Pictures. The film is scheduled to screen on October 17 at the Mohammed VI Theatre.
Khaled Al Hosani, a content developer and producer at Image Nation Studios, spoke warmly about the reception the team had received.
“We’re very pleased to be here at the festival and to see how the people of Morocco have welcomed us,” he told Lifestyle magazine.
He welcomed the opportunity to showcase “Hoba” and the UAE’s participation as guest country, describing the experience as being among “friends and family.”
A first visit for Maryem Bakouche
For Moroccan actress Maryem Bakouche, the festival offered a first encounter with an event she had been unable to attend in previous years.
“This year, however, I was honestly surprised by the high level of the festival, both in terms of organisation and the guests in attendance, whether Moroccan or from the guest countries,” she told Lifestyle magazine.
Bakouche praised the calibre of the jury and described the official competition’s film selection as “excellent.” She thanked Sli for inviting her and acknowledged the organisers’ attention to guests’ comfort, as well as the media’s presence and coverage.
Cinema as a way of understanding
Beyond the screenings and reunions, Sli drew attention to the thinking behind this year’s slogan, “When the World Grows Dark, Cinema Lights Up.”
“Cinema does not provide solutions, but it gives you the tools to understand reality and allows you to see, through a different lens, issues that you might not notice in everyday life,” he said.
His ambitions extend beyond the festival’s six days. Through training and closer ties with educational institutions, he hopes to help young people move from watching films to finding their own place in making them.
