Cinema of Morocco

{{Short description|none}}  {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox cinema market | name = Cinema of Morocco | image = Cla Studios.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = CLA Studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco | screens = 68 (2011)<ref name=screens_uis>{{cite web|title=Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=5542|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=5 November 2013|archive-date=5 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105031441/http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=5542}}</ref> | screens_per_capita = 0.2 per 100,000 (2011)<ref name=screens_uis/> | distributors = {{br separated entries|Megarama|Magreb Modern Films|Younes}}<ref name=distributors_uis>{{cite web|title=Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=5 November 2013|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224225508/http://data.uis.unesco.org/}}</ref> | produced_year = 2011 | produced_ref = <ref name=production_uis>{{cite web|title=Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=5545|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=5 November 2013|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224225519/http://data.uis.unesco.org/?ReportId=5545}}</ref> | produced_total = | produced_fictional = 55 | produced_animated = - | produced_documentary = 1 | admissions_year = 2012 | admissions_ref = <ref name=ccm>{{cite web|title=Bilan cinematographique 2012|url=http://www.ccm.ma/inter/phactualite/bilanfr2013.pdf|publisher=Centre Cinématographique Marocain|access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> | admissions_total = 2,011,294 | admissions_per_capita = 0.08 (2010)<ref>{{cite web|title=Country profile: 2. Morocco|url=http://euromedaudiovisuel.net/Files/2013/08/20/1377006300959.pdf|publisher=Euromed Audiovisual|access-date=14 November 2013|page=114|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210604/http://euromedaudiovisuel.net/Files/2013/08/20/1377006300959.pdf}}</ref> | admissions_national = 681,341 (33.8%) | box_office_year = 2012 | box_office_ref = <ref name=ccm/> | box_office_total = MAD {{Format price|69172682}} | box_office_national = MAD {{Format price|19258560}} (27.8%) }} {{Morocco film list}} '''Cinema of Morocco''' (Arabic: السينما المغربية) refers to the film industry of Morocco. Aside from Arabic-language films, Moroccan cinema also produces Tamazight-language films.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhzzDwAAQBAJ&dq=AMAZIGH+FILMS+(BERBER+FILMS)&pg=PA51 | title=Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema | isbn=978-1-5381-3905-9 | last1=Ginsberg | first1=Terri | last2=Lippard | first2=Chris | date=15 September 2020 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref> The first film in Morocco was shot by Louis Lumière in 1897.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/15/3736/Meet-the-Boulanes | title=Meet the Boulanes | date=4 April 2017 }}</ref> The first three Moroccan feature films were funded between 1968-1969.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0yBEAAAQBAJ&dq=First+three+Moroccan+feature+films+in+1968–69&pg=PT198 | title=Documentary Filmmaking in the Middle East and North Africa | isbn=978-1-64903-035-1 | last1=Shafik | first1=Viola | date=18 October 2022 | publisher=American University in Cairo Press }}</ref> Most researchers and critics agree that the history of Moroccan cinema started with Hamid Bénani's ''Wechma'' (1970), which is recognised as the first cult movie in Moroccan film history, and received critical acclaim on an international scale.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.3continents.com/en/programme/2002/une-histoire-du-cinema-marocain/ | title=A History of Moroccan Cinema }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0yBEAAAQBAJ&dq=First+three+Moroccan+feature+films+in+1968–69&pg=PT198 | title=Documentary Filmmaking in the Middle East and North Africa | isbn=978-1-64903-035-1 | last1=Shafik | first1=Viola | date=18 October 2022 | publisher=American University in Cairo Press }}</ref> Until then films produced in the country were Moroccanised versions of Egyptian melodramas.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.3continents.com/en/programme/2002/une-histoire-du-cinema-marocain/ | title=A History of Moroccan Cinema }}</ref> Other influential Moroccan films include ''A Thousand and One Hands'', which was the first feature length fiction film of the 1970s.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s0yBEAAAQBAJ&dq=First+three+Moroccan+feature+films+in+1968–69&pg=PT198 | title=Documentary Filmmaking in the Middle East and North Africa | isbn=978-1-64903-035-1 | last1=Shafik | first1=Viola | date=18 October 2022 | publisher=American University in Cairo Press }}</ref>

In 1982, Farida Bourquia became the first female Moroccan director, after her pioneering feature ''Al-Jamra''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U0VVDwAAQBAJ&dq=Farida+Bourquia,+who+was+born+in+Casablanca+in+1948,+has+the+distinction+of+being+the+first+Moroccan+director&pg=PA75 | title=Roots of the New Arab Film | isbn=978-0-253-03173-0 | last1=Armes | first1=Roy | date=6 January 2018 | publisher=Indiana University Press }}</ref> In 2001, King Mohammed VI of Morocco created the Marrakech International Film Festival to promote and develop the art of cinema and the film industry in Morocco.<ref>{{cite web | title=About the festival | url=https://marrakech-festival.com/en/the-festival/ }}</ref> In 2018, the first Moroccan fantasy film, ''Achoura'', was released.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://al3omk.com/785613.html#:~:text=ويعد%20عاشوراء%20أول%20فيلم%20مغربي,وعمر%20لطفي،%20وإنتاج%20لمياء%20الشرايبي | title=فيلم خيال علمي.. السلهامي يطرح "عاشوراء ليلة الأطفال" بقاعات السينما (فيديو) | date=8 October 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/2019/film/festivals/arab-african-filmmakers-genre-1203428775/ | title=Arab and African Filmmakers Are Increasingly Focusing on Genre Films and Series | date=8 December 2019 }}</ref> Amazigh films, also known as Berber films, began to receive support by the Moroccan Cinematographic Center (CCM) in the mid-2000s; an example is ''Tamazight Oufella''.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xhzzDwAAQBAJ&dq=AMAZIGH+FILMS+(BERBER+FILMS)&pg=PA51 | title=Historical Dictionary of Middle Eastern Cinema | isbn=978-1-5381-3905-9 | last1=Ginsberg | first1=Terri | last2=Lippard | first2=Chris | date=15 September 2020 | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield }}</ref>

In what has been described as a "vibrant new era" of Arab cinema, the 2020s has seen some stability in the Moroccan film industry.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cannes-arab-cinema-golden-age-1235492750/ | title=Cannes: Is Arab Cinema on the Cusp of a "New Golden Age"? | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=17 May 2023 }}</ref> In 2022, the first Moroccan animated films and animated series were produced.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.africanews.com/2022/05/03/morocco-first-animated-films-produced-to-honour-cultural-heritage/ | title=Africanews | Morocco: First animated films produced to honour cultural heritage | date=13 August 2024 }}</ref> In 2023, Moroccan cinema saw record-breaking production numbers, box office hits, and new infrastructure, partly due to the CCM's support and investments in upgrading and digitizing theaters. Moroccan cinema saw a dramatic surge in foreign investments, with 1.14 billion dirhams flowing into Moroccan film productions. Despite the success of local cinema and the national film scene, Hollywood dominated the market share, as opposed to French, Indian, and Egyptian films which accounted for less than 11% of the market by year's end.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2024/08/364651/morocco-unveils-national-box-office-for-2023 | title=Morocco Unveils National Box Office for 2023 | date=19 August 2024 }}</ref>

==History== [[File:The Vox Cinema, Casablanca.jpg|thumb|Cinema Vox (Casablanca) in 1950 ]] Cinema in Morocco has a long history, stretching back over a century to the filming of ''Le chèvrier Marocain'' ("The Moroccan Goatherd") by Louis Lumière in 1897. Between that time and 1944, many foreign movies were shot in the country, especially in the Ouarzazate area.

In the first half of the 20th century, Casablanca had many movie theaters, such as Cinema Rialto, Cinema Lynx and Cinema Vox—the largest in Africa at the time it was built.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-03-02|title=LES CINÉMAS DE L'EPOQUE A CASABLANCA.6/6.|url=http://rol-benzaken.centerblog.net/15663-les-cin-mas-de-epoque-a-casablanca|access-date=2019-12-08|website=Centerblog|language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-02-16|title=Cinéma: 245 salles fermées entre 1980 et 2017|url=https://www.lavieeco.com/culture/cinema-245-salles-fermees-entre-1980-et-2017/|access-date=2019-12-08|website=La Vie éco|language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Pennell|first=C. R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtBazz0I7uYC&q=cinema+vox+casablanca+africa&pg=PA237|title=Morocco Since 1830: A History|date=2000|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-85065-426-1|language=en}}</ref>

In 1944, the Moroccan Cinematographic Center (CCM), the nation's film regulatory body, was established. Studios were also opened in Rabat.

''Salut Casa!'' (1952) was a propaganda film brandishing France's purported colonial triumph in its civilizing mission in the city.<ref name=":5">{{Cite magazine |author=Von Osten, Marion |author2=Müller, Andreas |title=Contact Zones|url=https://pagesmagazine.net/en/articles/contact-zones/58cbd1fabf07dc00b19b0b8c|access-date=2019-10-18|magazine=Pages Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

In 1952, Orson Welles' ''Othello'' won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival under the Moroccan flag. However, the festival's musicians did not play the Moroccan national anthem, as no one in attendance, knew what it was.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wellesnet.com/filming_othello.htm|title=Wellesnet: Filming Othello|website=www.wellesnet.com|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Six years later, Mohammed Ousfour made the first Moroccan movie, ''Le fils maudit'' ("The Damned Son"). (L'Enfant Maudit)

In 1968, the first Mediterranean Film Festival of Morocco was held in Tangier. In its current editions, the event is held in Tetouan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Morocco.com {{!}} 14th Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival|url=https://www.morocco.com/blog/14th-tetouan-mediterranean-film-festival/|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Morocco.com|language=en-US}}</ref> This festival was followed in 1982 with the first national festival of cinema, which was held in Rabat. In 2001, the International Film Festival of Marrakech (FIFM) started its yearly festival in Marrakesh.

Mostafa Derkaoui's 1973 film ''About Some Meaningless Events'' ({{Langx|ar|أحداث بلا دلالة}}) was screened twice in Morocco before it was banned under Hassan II.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2020-12-28|title="أحداث بلا دلالة".. إعادة النبش في تحديات السينما المغربية بعد نصف قرن|url=https://doc.aljazeera.net/cinema/أحداث-بلا-دلالة-إعادة-النبش-في-تحديات/|access-date=2021-03-21|website=الجزيرة الوثائقية|language=ar}}</ref>

''Love in Casablanca'' (1991), starring Abdelkrim Derkaoui and Muna Fettou, was one of the first Moroccan films to deal with Morocco's complex realities and depict life in Casablanca with verisimilitude. Bouchra Ijork's 2007 made-for-TV film ''Bitter Orange'' achieved wide support among Moroccan viewers.<ref>{{Cite web|title=جدير بالمشاهدة: "البرتقالة المرة".. فيلم ذاق عبره المغاربة مرارة الحب (فيديو وصور)|url=https://al3omk.com/539076.html|access-date=2021-07-13|website=al3omk.com|language=ar | first = Sammy | last = Derdaf | date = 18 May 2020}}</ref> Nour-Eddine Lakhmari's ''Casanegra'' (2008) depicts the harsh realities of Casablanca's working classes.<ref>{{cite web|date=9 November 2009|title=" Casa Negra " remporte la médaille de bronze|url=http://www.aujourdhui.ma/culture-details72137.html|access-date=23 September 2011|website=aujourdhui.ma|agency=Aujourd'hui le Maroc}}{{Dead link|date=December 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Karim Boukhari|date=12 December 2008|title=Nari, nari, Casanegra|url=http://www.telquel-online.com/archives/350/arts2_350.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191309/http://www.telquel-online.com/archives/350/arts2_350.shtml|archive-date=3 March 2016|access-date=23 April 2013|website=telquel-online.com|agency=TelQuel}}</ref> The films ''Ali Zaoua'' (2000), ''Horses of'' God (2012), ''Much Loved'' (2015), and ''Ghazzia'' (2017) of Nabil Ayouch—a French director of Moroccan heritage—deal with street crime, terrorism, and social issues in Casablanca, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goodman|first=Sarah|date=2019-03-17|title=Behind the Silver Screen: A Conversation with Morocco's Nabil Ayouch|url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/03/268179/screen-morocco-nabil-ayouch/|access-date=2019-12-08|website=Morocco World News|language=en-US}}</ref> The events in Meryem Benm'Barek-Aloïsi's 2018 film Sofia revolve around an illegitimate pregnancy in Casablanca.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2019-08-24|title=" Sofia ": le récit d'un délit de grossesse au Maroc|language=fr|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2019/08/24/sofia-le-recit-d-un-delit-de-grossesse-au-maroc_5502517_3246.html|access-date=2019-12-10}}</ref> Hicham Lasri and Said Naciri are also from Casablanca.

In 2021 Casablanca Beats became the first Moroccan film to be selected to compete for the Palme d'Or since 1962.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 June 2021 |title=Cannes: Moroccan film in competition for 1st time in 59 yrs - English Service |url=https://www.ansa.it/english/newswire/english_service/2021/06/04/cannes-moroccan-film-in-competition-for-1st-time-in-59-yrs_c03ca144-f25e-4904-8293-54926dfd20c8.html |access-date=21 June 2021 |website=ANSA.it |language=en}}</ref>

Atlas Studios in Warzazat is a large movie studio.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Destination Ouarzazate, entre culture hollywoodienne et artisanat berbère|url=https://www.journaldesfemmes.fr/loisirs/voyages/2588038-voyages-ouarzazate-maroc-transavia-cinema-culture-patrimoine-artisanat/|access-date=2020-03-17|website=www.journaldesfemmes.fr|date=6 March 2020 |language=fr}}</ref>

The Marrakech International Film Festival was first held in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-04|title=Here's A List Of Arab Film Festivals Dominating The Cinematic Cultures In The Arab World|url=https://scoopempire.com/heres-a-list-of-arab-film-festivals-dominating-the-cinematic-cultures-in-the-arab-world/|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Scoop Empire|language=en-US}}</ref>

In his book ''La septième porte (The Seventh Door),'' the poet, novelist and filmmaker Ahmed Bouanani (1938-2011) retraces 24 years of Moroccan film history. As described by literary critic and publisher Kenza Sefrioui, who edited Bouanani's personal history of cinema in Morocco, the author ''"recounts scenarios, he details the atmosphere of the scenes, he attests to reception, and he presents himself as an often ironic, sometimes humorous commentator, in dialogue with his reader."''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lynx Qualey|first=Marcia|date=2021-02-02|title=Ahmed Bouanani and Morocco's Seventh Art|url=https://arablit.org/2021/02/02/ahmed-bouanani-and-moroccos-seventh-art/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202035221/https://arablit.org/2021/02/02/ahmed-bouanani-and-moroccos-seventh-art/ |archive-date=2 February 2021 |access-date=2021-02-03|website=ArabLit & ArabLit Quarterly|language=en}}</ref>

==Film industry in Morocco==

===Directors=== A first generation of directors made film in Morocco in the 1970s-1990s and developed the film industry in Morocco. Notable film makers are Hamid Bénani (Wechma, Traces, 1970), Souheil Ben Barka (Les Mille et une Mains, 1974), Moumen Smihi (El Chergui ou le Silence violent, 1975), Ahmed El Maânouni (Alyam, Alyam, 1978; Transes (Al Hal), 1981; Les Cœurs brûlés, 2007), Jilali Ferhati (Poupées de roseau, 1981; La Plage des enfants perdus, 1991), Mustapha Derkaoui (Les Beaux Jours de Shéhérazade, 1982); Farida Benlyazid (Une porte sur le ciel, 1988), Saâd Chraïbi (Chronique d'une vie normale, 1990), Mohamed Abderrahmane Tazi (Badis, 1989; À la recherche du mari de ma femme, 1993), Abdelkader Lagtaâ (Un amour à Casablanca, 1992; La Porte close, 1998), Hakim Noury (Le Marteau et l'Enclume, 1990), Hassan Benjelloun (La Fête des autres, 1990).

Since roughly the year 2000, a younger generation of Moroccan filmmakers has been taking over. Some of its prominent names are: *Nabil Ayouch *Hisham Lasri *Narjiss Nejjar *Faouzi Bensaïdi *Nour-Eddine Lakhmari *Doha Moustaquim *Zakaria Zahrani *Laïla Marrakchi (her first full-length feature film, Marock, produced in 2004 was nominated at the Festival de Cannes 2005 in the category "Un certain regard").

===Festivals=== *International Film Festival of Marrakech * Mediterranean Film Festival

==Actors==

===Living in Morocco=== {{columns-list|colwidth=18em| * Latefa Ahrrare * Driss Aït Jimhi * Hussein Aït Jimhi * Sana Akroud * Sanâa Alaoui * Said Amel * Amal Ayouch * Salima Benmoumen * Assaad Bouab * Hassan El Fad * Rachid El Ouali * Zineb Ennajem * Noureddine Ettaouil * Kenza Fridou * Nadia Kounda * Hicham Bahloul * Sadiaa Ladib * Mohammed Marouazi * Amine Nasseur * Driss Roukhe * Ahmed Saguia * Karim Saidi * Abderrahim Tounsi }}

===Living abroad (mainly in France)=== {{columns-list|colwidth=18em| * Amidou * Souad Amidou * Rachid Badouri * Jamel Debbouze * Mustapha El Atrassi * Gad Elmaleh * Rachida Khalil * Hicham Nazzal * Ahmed Sagui * Saïd Taghmaoui * Roschdy Zem * Soufiane El Khalidy}}

==National structure==

===Union and professional organizations=== The Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (Centre cinématographique marocain) is a public institution under the Ministry of Culture for the promotion, distribution and projection of movies in Morocco. Most other organisations related to films and cinemas are grouped into business chambers or trade unions, for example the National Federation of Film Clubs or the National Chamber of Film Producers.

===Film studios=== *studios ATLAS (Ouarzazate) *studios KAN ZAMANE *studios CINEDINA (Soualem) *studios ESTER ANDROMEDA *CLA Studios (Ouarzazate) *studios CINECITTA (Ouarzazate)

===Institutes for film and audiovisual studies=== *The Superior School of Visual Arts of Marrakech (ESAVM) *Institut spécialisé dans le métiers du cinéma (ISMC) Ouarzazate<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-03-27|title=Ouarzazate|url=https://ismcouarzazate.wordpress.com/ouarzazate-2/|access-date=2021-02-03|website=Institut Spécialisé dans les Métiers du Cinéma - OFPPT|language=fr-FR}}</ref> *Institut spécialisé du cinéma et de l'audiovisuel (ISCA) de Rabat *Institut supérieur des métiers de l'audiovisuel et du cinéma (ISMAC)

==See also== {{Portal|Morocco|Film}} * Arab cinema * Egyptian cinema * List of Moroccan films * List of foreign movies shot in Morocco * Culture of Morocco * Cinema of the world

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== * Ahmed Bouanani, ''La septième porte. Une histoire du cinéma au Maroc de 1907 à 1986''. Kulte Editions, 2021, 336 p. (in French) * Kevin Dwyer, "Morocco: A National Cinema with Large Ambitions" in: Josef Gugler (ed.) ''Film in the Middle East and North Africa: Creative Dissidence'', University of Texas Press and American University in Cairo Press, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0-292-72327-6}}, {{ISBN|978-9-774-16424-8}}, pp 325-348

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090721185625/http://cinemamarocain.net/ Moroccan Cinema] Cinema portal in Morocco *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080618180719/http://cinema.numediastudio.com/ CineMa] Cinema

Category:Cinema of Morocco