Morocco’s International Animation Film Festival Of Meknes Kicks Off With High-Profile Guest List

The International Animation Film Festival of Meknes (FICAM) in Morocco 2022 kicks off today and will run through May 11.

Meknes has worked since 2001 to support animated cinema in Morocco through a network of French institutions in the country.

Below, we outline some of the festival’s main highlights including screenings, masterclasses, and a works in progress presentation from a French animation legend.

Works in Progress

• France’s most successful non-franchise director of animated films, Michel Ocelot, will present a works in progress session for his upcoming film Pharaon, le sauvage et la maîtresse des roses.
• Producer Malika Brahmi, will tease her next feature film, Adam and the Magic Cloud.

Master Classes

• Cartoon Saloon founder Tomm Moore will host a master class and screening for his Oscar-nominated film Wolfwalkers.
• Florence Miailhe will screen her Annecy jury distinction-winner and César-nominated film The Crossing, followed by a masterclass.

Screenings

• Director Alex Kronemer will present his latest feature Lamya’s Poem, which screened in Annecy’s feature competition in 2021.
• Ayumu Watanabe’s Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko was nominated by the Annies as one of last year’s best independent animated features.
• Winner of the 2021 Annecy Contrechamp Jury prize, Archipelago will be screened with director Félix Dufour-Laperrière in attendance.
• Carlo Vogele will host a screening of Icarus and the Minotaur.
• The Island will screen with director Anca Damian in attendance, before heading to Annecy’s feature competition in June.
• The Summit of the Gods producer Didier Brunner will present Patrick Imbert’s most recent feature.
• Producer Ron Dyens will be present to host a screening of Annecy jury winner and Golden Globe-nominated My Sunny Maad by Michaela Pavlatova.

Industry

• This year’s FICAM will host the first-ever Moroccan Animation Film Forum. Among other topics discussed at the forum, attendees will begin planning the establishment of a Moroccan animation film market.
• Annecy and Haute-Savoie are hosting a series of animated cinema workshops.
• FICAM will host five days of workshops on pre-production for documentaries, screenwriting, and storyboarding.