The second International Taza Film Festival will take place in the northern Moroccan city from July 22-27th, 2019. Festival director Mohamed Belghouat explains the cinema event was designed in response to the lack of theater life in Morocco. It aims to “create a cinematographic culture and dynamic, through training, debates and the projection of Moroccan films.” For the second edition, the festival will focus on national Moroccan films. Dozens of them will be set in the regions surrounding Taza, which is 120 east of Fes.
For its first edition, the Taza Film Festival invited the Canadian cinema as it’s guest of honor. Canadian cinema reflects a wide range of multicultural themes and identities that accurately represent the event’s values.
The second edition will also place a special focus on children’s films. The Moroccan film Majid, directed by Moonshot Productions, will open the children’s forum. Moroccan children’s films will be a key theme of the festival.
Majid took part in more than 30 world film festivals and won over 10 international prizes since it’s release in 2011. The main character is Majid, a ten-year-old orphan who makes pocket money selling books. Majid lives with his older brother, a careless drunk. The story reveals the child’s anxiety about losing memories of his parents. Upon realizing he has no photos of them, he embarks on a mission with his new friend Larbi. Together they take a journey from Mohammedia to Casablanca in search of objects to help him remember his family.
The Taza festival will also organize training workshops on audiovisuals, photography, and screenwriting. These events will be led by filmmakers and industry professionals. Additionally, there will be an organized drawing. The winners will have a chance to meet the actors invited to the event. For 2019, Fatima Zahra Al-Father, known as the “Gadi Kiss” will be present. Attendees can also survey an exhibition dedicated to the relationship between Taza and the Sahara Desert communities.