The Nador Film and Memory Festival focuses this year on the environment
The International Festival of Cinema and Common Memory of Nador (Morocco), promoted since its inception by the Centre of Common Memory for Democracy and Peace, will celebrate its 13th edition this year between 5 and 10 November, under the theme ‘The memory of Heaven and Earth’, with the aim of recognising the efforts of those who defend climate justice and coexistence in a healthy environment.
Some twenty countries are taking part with some thirty film productions competing in the three competition sections of this film event, which every year arouses more interest not only for the films that can be seen in Nador, but also for the debates on current issues that are held with the participation of leading international experts. In this case, the ‘leitmotif’ focuses on ecology and the environment.
Eight documentary films with environmental themes will compete, representing Morocco, Brazil, Spain, Haiti, Iraq, Italy and Peru. Seven feature-length fiction films with a free theme will compete for the statuette inspired by Amazigh culture, representing Morocco, Cuba, Spain, France, Holland, Italy and Turkey. And fourteen fiction short films will compete for their prize representing Morocco, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Honduras, Mexico, Palestine, Portugal, Switzerland, Syria and Tunisia.
In addition, Moroccan-themed films will be screened out of competition as part of the preparations for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Green March, to be held in November 2025.
During the week of the Nador Film Festival, two international round tables will be held. The first, ‘Parallel diplomacy in the age of artificial intelligence: art and culture at the crossroads’, with the participation of politicians from several countries, in particular Latin America, diplomats, academics, artists, human rights activists and civil society, both Moroccan and foreign. The debate will focus on the new roles of parallel diplomacy, in particular artistic, cultural and parliamentary diplomacy in the age of artificial intelligence.
The second round table will focus on climate justice, under the title ‘The memory of the sky and the earth’, with the participation of the winner of the international prize ‘Memory for democracy and peace’ - the winner of which will be announced soon -, Moroccan and foreign environmental experts, the directors of the documentaries selected for the festival's official competition, as well as the president and members of the documentary jury.
The 13th edition of the International Festival of Cinema and Common Memory (FICMEC) in Nador will also be an opportunity to award the international prize ‘Memory for Democracy and Peace’ to an international figure who has made a clear mark in the field of climate justice and for his or her commitment against the impacts of drought and natural disasters.
The prize, which has been awarded for the past eight years by the Centre of Common Memory for Democracy and Peace, has always been collected in Nador by the world-renowned personalities to whom it has been awarded, such as former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, as well as the former French Minister from Nador, Najat Belkacem.
Given the importance of this great international prize, the winner will be announced in a special press release and will receive the trophy at a grand ceremony to be held to coincide with the opening of the festival on 5 November 2024.
Parallel activities within the Film Festival will include training workshops for local youth in the film industry, led by Moroccan and foreign directors, screenwriters and professionals; films on the environment, drought and natural disasters will be screened for local schoolchildren, in collaboration with the Moroccan Film Centre and the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of National Education, Pre-school and Sport; promotion of the city and its investment opportunities among the media and international guests attending the festival, through cooperation with specialised institutions; and the honouring of local, national and international personalities working in the artistic field or in defence of climate justice and coexistence in a healthy and balanced environment.
As for the official film competition, the jury for documentaries will be chaired by the Spanish academic and writer Rosa Amor del Olmo, for feature films by the French journalist and critic Barbara Lorey de Lacharrière, and for short films by the Moroccan Fadoua Maroub, founder of the Association of Mediterranean Cinema and Human Rights Encounters.
This year's edition will pay tribute to the recently deceased Leila Meziane Benjelloun, honorary president of the festival for the last four years. In addition, the Short Film Award will be named after the late Mustafa Salama, one of the festival's major patrons since its inception.
For more information, please visit the festival's website:
