Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho, best known for “The Secret Agent,” will be the patron – serving as a mentor to the filmmakers – of the 9th edition of the Atlas Workshops, the Marrakech Film Festival’s professional platform dedicated to the development of Moroccan, Arab and African cinema, which takes place from Nov. 22 to 26. Mendonça Filho made his mark on the international scene with “Neighboring Sounds” (2012), “Aquarius” (2016) and “Bacurau on the Map” (2019), which won the Jury Prize at Cannes. His most recent film, “The Secret Agent” (2025), won the award for best director at Cannes before going on to win two Golden Globes and receive four Academy Award nominations this year.
Mendonça Filho said, “Listening to new ideas and understanding the aspirations of new generations of filmmakers is a source of inspiration for my own work. Last year, during my Conversation at the festival, I was asked whether I had ever planned to shoot a film in this city. Serving as the patron of the Atlas Workshops makes me feel as though I’m witnessing, right before my eyes, the birth of new films.” Selected from among 320 projects in development and 90 films in production or post-production, this edition’s 30 projects and films fall into three categories: 14 projects in development, 11 films in production or post-production, and five projects in the Atlas Close-Ups section, which is dedicated to Moroccan cinema.
The 14 countries that are represented are Algeria, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia. The selection of projects in development includes 12 fiction films and two documentaries, of which six are debut feature-length films. Several of the projects are headed by filmmakers who have already won attention with their previous films: Amjad Abu Alala (“You Will Die at Twenty”), Laila Abbas (“Thank You for Banking With Us”), Meryem Benm’Barek (“Sofia,” “Behind the Palm Trees”), Sofia Alaoui (“Animalia”) and Yasmine Benkiran (“Queens”).
Of the 11 films in production or post-production—including five debut feature-length films—four received development support from the Atlas Workshops: Samuel Ishimwe’s “Seasons of the Weary Kind” (Rwanda), selected in 2019; Alaa Eddine Aljem’s “Eldorado” (Morocco), selected in 2020; Yoro Mbaye’s “Fagadaga” (Senegal), selected in 2022; and Ismaël El Iraki’s “Wolfmother” (Morocco), selected in 2023. The Atlas Close-Ups program features five Moroccan projects, including four fiction films and one documentary. Atlas Station: A selection of producers and short films in post-production from MoroccoConceived to support young Moroccan professionals, this year’s Atlas Station welcomes eight filmmakers selected from among 30 applicants.
In meetings and exchanges with international professionals, these four women and four men will participate in a professional development program focused on various aspects of film production. The program also provides support for five Moroccan short films in post-production—four fiction and one documentary—selected from among 24 submissions. The selected filmmaking teams will receive support tailored to the needs of their film, particularly in terms of final editing and distribution.
The Atlas Programs—an initiative supporting Moroccan, Arab, and African cinemaFounded in 2018, the Atlas Workshops now fall under the Atlas Programs, which gathers together the professional initiatives of the Marrakech Film Festival. Atlas Press, Atlas Distribution MeetingsAtlas Press supports the development of film criticism, while the Atlas Distribution Meetings brings together some 60 professionals from Africa, the Arab world and Europe to foster networking and the circulation of films. The Atlas Distribution Awards rounds out this initiative by providing support for the distribution of films.
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