The Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival took place from June 10th to 17th. The key to this 27th year was the importance of being back in cinemas: “Coming back into cinemas like this gives us overwhelming joy and satisfaction, not only watching the films, but also, and most importantly, sharing intense emotions.”
The closing ceremony was the time for the jury to announce the award winners. The programme had two competitions: one for drama features, with 12 films in the running, the other for 8 feature-length documentaries. There were a total of 9 awards.
In the drama category, Piccolo Corpo, by Italian director Laura Samani, won the Grand Prix and the Critics’ Award. It’s set in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century. Agata gives birth to a stillborn baby. Later she is told the child is doomed to wander in Limbo for eternity. In her distress, Agata hears of a priest on a mountain who can breathe life into dead children. So she digs up her daughter’s corpse and sets out on a journey.
The Jury Award went to the Palestinian feature Huda’s Salon, directed by Hany Abu Assad, in which two women fight for their freedom. Finally the Tunisian Gadeha, une seconde vie by Annis Lassoued won the First Film Award.
As for documentaries, this year’s Grand Prix went to Moroccan director Asmaa El Moudir for her film Carte postale. From an old postcard belonging to her mother, the director manages to find the remote village where her mother was born, then left as a child, never returning. The Moroccan documentary Summer Pack by Salem Ballal won the First Film Award and Alice Diop’s Nous won the Jury Award.
The complete list of award-winners can be found here.
Sources: Festival de Tetouan, Le Courrier de l’Atlas, Broadcast Pro
