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Tunisian Youssef Chebbi’s “Plague,” Moroccan Adnane Baraka’s “We Don’t Forget” and Meryam Joobeur’s “Motherhood” feature among buzz titles at this year’s Marrakech Festival Atlas Workshops, which will have Martin Scorsese as their official patron.

Consolidated as a key platform for Moroccan, Arab and African projects and pix in production made by a new generation of filmmakers and created by Marrakech Festival artistic director Remi Bonhomme, the Atlas Workshops unspool Nov. 27-30. They take place alongside the 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which runs from Nov. 24-Dec. 2.

In a definite potential highlight of the Atlas Workshops, Meryjam Joubeur, whose “Brotherhood” was Oscar nominated for best live action short, will present 10 minutes of “Motherhood,” one of the awaited feature debuts of 2023. It is sure to spark major festival interest.

“Plague” marks Chebbi’s second feature after acclaimed Cannes Directors’ Fortnight genre blender “Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation,...

"You'd better not let him catch you." Film Movement has revealed an official US trailer for a Tunisian indie drama titled Under the Fig Trees, made by documentary filmmaker Erige Sehiri as her first narrative feature. This initially premiered way back during the 2021 Venice Film Festival, and it is finally getting a proper art house release in the US this fall. It also toured to other fests, including at the Munich, Melbourne, Reykjavik, London, and Toronto Film Festivals in 2022. Set over the course of a single day, and with a cast made up of an ensemble of non-professional actors, Under the Fig Trees is "an elegant, understated tapestry of complex interactions" and "pleasurable, immersive experience" that ultimately reveals the ways in which sisterhood itself becomes an act of resistance. The film stars Fide Fdhili, Feten Fdhili, Ameni Fdhili, Samar Sifi, and Leila Ouhebi. The country of Tunisia...

by Cláudio Alves

Some viewers like their films tidily wrapped up, conclusions tied like neat bows. If there's mystery, it should come with a key to unlock it. Puzzles must be complete by the time credits roll. This is cinema as traditional storytelling, made easy to swallow whole. That kind of work can be made glorious by the right artist, but it would be erroneous to presume it the only valid form of film. Often, it's the rebellious piece that begets the biggest impact, forcing itself into the audience's imagination where it will percolate long after they've left the theater. This is cinema as haunt. This is Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation, now in limited release…...

If a person sets themselves alight and no one sees it, does the act lose its meaning? Is a half-built housing complex still a potential home, or a constant reminder of impermenance? Can justice be served only through the law, or do we need an avenging angel? And what if that angel is beholden only to their own desire to set anyone on fire? Youssef Chebbi's solo feature directorial debut, Ashkal, is a dark and subtle supernatural thriller, a deft combination of neo-noir and the fantastic. Perhaps the only effective way to relate the socio-political tension of contemporary Tunisia, its story moves like shadow through the flames that greet the characters, its confrontation simultaneous cold and searing, right to the skin. In an area known...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

A selection at Cannes Director’s Fortnight, Toronto International Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, and Beyond Fest, Youssef Chebbi’s supernatural noir Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation is coming to theaters next week. Courtesy of Yellow Veil Pictures, the film will open at NYC’s Roxy Cinemas and LA’s American Cinematheque Los Feliz & Lumiere Music Hall before arriving digitally on August 22. Ahead of the release, the new trailer and poster have now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “Set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, the discovery of a mysterious burnt body by two police officers reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city.”

Starring Fatma Oussaifi, Mohamed Houcine Grayaa, and Aymen Ben Hmida, see the trailer below.

Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation opens on August 18 in theaters and arrives digitally on August 22.

The post...

With a slightly new title, Ashkal: The Tunisian Investigation, this eeri mystery was something of a sleeper hit on the festival circuit in 2022. We're seeing a rise in more genre.leaning work coming from Mena countries; considering the rich folkloric traditions of the cultures of the area, as well as recent history, it's an area beginning a renaissence in this area of filmmaking. Filmmaker Youssef Chebi has crafted a minimalist and disturbing story, of two detectives trying to solve a series of violent deaths in an semi-empty area of the capital. In my own review last year, I wrote, " [The film is] a deft combination of neo-noir and the fantastic ......

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Hanging Gardens Hanging Gardens has been named best film at the 7th Critics Awards for Arab Films, which were presented at Cannes Film Festival.

The Iraq-set film directed by Ahmed Yassin Al Daradji tells the story of a young boy who finds a sex doll on a rubbish dump on the outskirts of Baghdad.

The awards are run by the Arab Cinema Centre and were voted on by 193 film critics from 72 countries.

Lubna Azabal won the best actress award for her role in Maryam Touzani’s The Blue Caftan, which led the nominations and which also picked up the awards for best screenplay for Touzani and cinematography for Virginie Surdej.

The best directing and editing awards went to Youssef Chebbi and Valentin Féron respectively for Tunisian thriller Ashkal.

Adam Bessa, was named best actor for Harka. The best documentary went to Jumana Manna for Foragers, which considers the conflict over foraged food.

Tunisian Murder Mystery ‘Ashkal’ Triumphs At Fespaco

Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi’s investigative thriller Ashkal has won the top prize at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (Fespaco). The festival, which ran from February 25 to March 4, unfolds every two years in Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou and is regarded as Africa’s equivalent of Cannes. Chebbi’s murder mystery revolves around a series of killings at a construction site on the outskirts of the Tunisian capital of Tunis. The film world premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and then played a raft of other festivals including Toronto and London. The Fespaco jury head, producer Dora Bouchoucha, praised the film’s pairing of a strong aesthetic with a politically tuned-in storyline. Burkinabe filmmaker Apolline Traore won the Silver Stallion for Sira, about a woman kidnapped by Jihadists, and Kenyan director Angela Wamai took home the Bronze Stallion for Shimoni,...

A new year means a new New Directors/New Films lineup.

The 2023 festival, presented by the Museum of Modern Art and Film at Lincoln Center, is set to take place from March 29 through April 9 and boasts films from 41 directors. The 52nd edition of the festival kicks off with Savannah Leaf’s A24 drama “Earth Mama” and concludes with Vuk Lungulov-Klotz’s trans coming-of-age story “Mutt.” Both premiered at Sundance to acclaim.

In total, the festival boasts 27 features and 11 short films, with screenings taking place at theaters both at MoMA and Flc. Nations represented range from Argentina to Angola, Nigeria to Ukraine.

“This geographically diverse lineup brings together new directors from all over the world presenting works that make bold and creative statements on everything from identity and family to political repression and postcolonial discourse,” MoMA film curator and 2023 Nd/Nf co-chair La Frances Hui said in a press statement. “The...

Iranian action drama “World War III,” which won two awards at the recent Venice festival, will feature among the main competition titles at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival.

The festival will operate as an in-person event with foreign filmmakers, media and other guests in attendance from Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2022.

“World War III” is joined in the competition section by the world premiere of Milcho Manchevski’s “Kaymak,” Spanish director Carlos Vermut’s “Manticore” and Roberta Torre’s “The Fabulous Ones,” Michale Boganim’s “Tel Aviv Beirut,” and Youssef Chebbi’s debut film “Ashkal.”

The 15-strong competition also includes two Japanese films Imaizumi Rikiya’s “By The Window” and Matsunaga Daishi’s “Egoist” and two Japanese co-productions, Fukunaga Takeshi’s “Mountain Woman,” and Kyrgyzstan director Aktan Arym Kubat’s “This Is What I Remember.”

Winners from the competition section will be chosen by a jury headed by Julie Taymor, along with Joao Pedro Rodrigues,...

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “Ashkal,” following its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. The murder mystery is the second feature from Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi and had its world premiere earlier this year at Cannes as part of the Directors’ Fortnight section. Yellow Veil Pictures plans to release the film theatrically in 2023.

“Ashkal” is set amongst derelict, half-finished apartment complexes of a former regime, where a mysterious burnt body is discovered by two police officers. The corpse reveals a puzzling repetition of events. As the investigation progresses, a network of violence and corruption is uncovered throughout the city. Fatma Oussaifi and Mohamed Houcine Grayaa star in the picture.

“In ‘Ashkal,’ Youssef Chebbi creates images that stick in your mind long after the credits roll, creating an unforgettable, unshakeable cinematic experience,” Joe Yanick, co-founder of Yellow Veil Pictures, said in a statement. “It’s...