Moroccan director Zakaria Nouri won Best Director Award at the Tunis International Panorama Festival for his film Aicha, chosen from the 20 short fiction films and 4 short documentaries in the competition. Organised by film-maker Kamal Aouij, the event was held at the Tunisian Cinematheque from February 8th to 10th.
Aicha describes the bleak life of 26-year-old Aicha, living in a traditional Moroccan home with her sick, bedridden mother. During the day she does the household chores and takes care of her mother. In the evening she goes out and waits for passing truck drivers.
Last year Aicha won Best Film at the Mesopotamia Short Film Festival in the Netherlands. The festival director recognized its depth and cinematic quality. The film has also been shown at international festivals in Austria, Ireland and Argentina.
Born in Belgium, Zakaria Nouri grew up in Casablanca and in 2011 obtained an audiovisual diploma from the ESJC (École supérieure de journalisme et de communication). Aicha is his first film. Through it he wanted to share his way of seeing, his vision “of Moroccan society and its city.” A city he considers “often superficially represented.”
Yacine Moujahid’s film Ziad was also shown during the event.
There were 4 other awards:
Best Film: An ordinary Day by Anes Zawahri (Syria)
Best Documentary: Beirut After 40 by Anthony Lerchak (Lebanon)
Special Mention: The Sea Bride by Mohamed Ateeq (Bahrain)
Jury Award: Rainbow by Aleksandar Vujovic (Montenegro)
