Does Moroccan cinema evolve or falter?

Written by Mohammed El Khaiter ( Film critic )


       Is Moroccan film production actually developing? Does it respond to the expectations of the Moroccan public and its cultural and artistic needs? The official competition is limited to 15 Moroccan films and the great director Suhail Benberka is outside the official competition , writes  Mohammed ElKhaiter,journalist and film critic.

Can we judge that the Moroccan film is only an assemblage of  pictures over pictures? Is the Moroccan film a combination of connotations and content regardless of the structure of the image? Where do we see the creative component of the Moroccan film in form or content? Is the component of creativity separate from semantics and meanings in the Moroccan  context? Is there any argument for creativity in Moroccan cinema? Should the issues of Moroccan cinema be carried by a beautiful structure and style and in a beautiful spirit or not necessarily? Is there a development of Moroccan film over decades? Does the Moroccan cinema match the concerns and transformations of society? Is the Moroccan director convinced of what he is doing? Is the Moroccan product with a creative cinematic background or with a background of stores capturing opportunities?
These are some of the burning questions that critics, journalists and filmmakers have brought to the Tangier film festival ,already held on 1 of March to 9 , 2019.
The national film festival in Tangier is like a snowball, when a Moroccan film takes the form of a film that shakes the entity from the inside and draws critics, journalists and filmmakers around the film.
With the National Film Festival in Tangier ,edition 21, this prestigious film festival in the Arab world and in Africa is moving from the total screening of films produced annually to an organized selection within a national cinematic committee, keen to save on the effort and festive programming. Moroccan film, within the total of nearly thirty Moroccan films, which marks the transition of this major demonstration to the festival  tests, .
At least in the short film contest, it was not new. Moroccan filmmakers took up a selection process before the official competition at the National Film Festival for years. But the new day in the festival is the different cinematic exercise that leads to the improvement of the festival station. Of followers.
One of the most powerful moments of the national film festival in Tangier 21 is the premiere of the film "Sand and Fire" by Moroccan director Suhail Benberka, whose wide audience was not surprised by the quality of the work, Photography, actors' performance, cinematic language , "script" and other elements of the artwork.
The film was accompanied by the presence of the Minister of Culture and Communication and Mr. Wali of Tangier - Tetouan.
There are many questions about the reasons why Suhail did not enter the official competition.
On the other hand, the short and long films feature film moments filled with controversy over the quality of the Moroccan film over the past year. The question is: Does Moroccan film production actually develop? Does it respond to the expectations of the Moroccan public and its cultural and artistic needs? What is the possible relationship between the Moroccan filmmakers who are present at the festival and the young Moroccan filmmakers?
Through these public and private moments of criticism, the great cultural question remains with all Moroccans: Does Moroccan film production evolve during the year and during the decade? Does it respond to the expectations of the Moroccan public and its cultural and artistic needs?  Has the Moroccan director become capable of his cinematic instruments?
Critics, journalists and those interested went on to be programmed in a regular setting for the National Film Festival in Tangier 21, where a few Moroccan film directors were glamorous, while others emerged with a dull presence after the show of their movies, making some of them lounging in the discussion room.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic surprises of the national film festival in Tangier 21 is that of Moroccan filmmakers emerging from a young generation of filmmakers, who have raised the slogan of innovation in style and vision and to some degree agree to the initiative. His first feature film was in a different cinematic experience at the writing level, as well as content, music, editing, photography and characters. In contrast, a number of leading Moroccan filmmakers presented a film within the official competition category such as "The Three Mimes - A Missing Story" by Saad Chraibi  and the film "The Last Rebellion" by  Jilali Farhati without cinematic elements that guarantee artistic quality, although these are examples of the cinema of the pioneers of Morocco, but unfortunately they left the date and missed the expectations of their fans. Does Moroccan cinema evolve or falter?