Fez — Moroccan director Jamal Belmejdoub’s latest feature, “Hôtel de la Paix” (“The Peace Hotel,”) released in theaters on April 1, adding a rare homegrown horror title to Morocco’s current cinema lineup.
The film is now screening, with a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes and an age restriction barring viewers under 12.
Set in Marrakech, the film follows Karim, a young hotel owner whose life begins to unravel after the discovery of a mysterious old object hidden inside the walls of his establishment.
What starts as a renovation story quickly turns darker, as disappearances, supernatural incidents, and family tensions threaten both his loved ones and the future of the hotel itself.
Official plot descriptions frame the story around a buried curse and the emotional weight of a past that refuses to remain silent.
A genre film rooted in Moroccan storytelling
“Hôtel de la Paix” arrives with a profile uncommon in Morocco’s theatrical market, where locally produced horror films remain relatively limited. That alone gives the film a distinctive place, but its path to release also helped build anticipation.
The feature was selected for the fiction competition of the 24th National Film Festival in Tangier, where it later earned the Best Editing Award, according to festival and industry profiles tied to the production. It was also presented as an internationally traveling title, with reported selections in Brazil, Austria, and Spain.
The cast includes Sami Fekkak, Salwa Tarhzaoui, Mohamed Choubi, Adam Belmejdoub, Benaissa El Jirari, and Rachid Bidid. Belmejdoub directed the film and co-wrote it with David Moerman, who is also credited with cinematography. Editing is credited to Mamoun Kachani and Kawtar Tarhzaoui, while Zakaria Nouih composed the music.
Jamal Belmejdoub’s latest step
“Hôtel de la Paix” was produced by Jacaranda Productions, the Moroccan company behind the project, and the film previously received public support through Morocco’s film aid mechanism. In 2021, the project was awarded MAD 3.7 million (approximately $395,000).
Belmejdoub, who studied economics before training in film studies and directing, is not new to Moroccan cinema.
He has previously worked as a film critic and directed several shorts and features, building a career that moves between auteur ambition and popular storytelling.
With “Hôtel de la Paix,” he appears to lean fully into genre, using fear and the supernatural to explore memory, inheritance, and the emotional power of what refuses to stay buried.
