‘Al Kouan’: student short film from Ouarzazate represents Morocco and Africa at Rome festival
Shot in a single location on a small budget, Mohamed Anaanaa’s short film ‘Al Kouan’ competes with top film schools at the first CSC International Student Film Festival in Rome.
Film poster
The short fiction film “Al Kouan” (The Spot), by young Moroccan director Mohamed Anaanaa, has won a place in the official competition of the first CSC – International Student Film Festival, to be held in Rome from 10 to 15 November with student work from 19 countries.
“Al Kouan” is the only fiction film representing Morocco and the African continent in the Live Action category of a competition held under the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Culture, with artistic supervision by Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio.
Small means, big vision
Mohamed Anaanaa wrote, directed and edited the film and also handled its sound design. It was shot in a single location with limited material and technical resources, yet the depth of its idea and the strength of its visual language allowed it to compete with student productions from long-established film schools.
From Ouarzazate to the world
The film is the director’s graduation project from the master of excellence in cinema and audiovisual studies at the former Multidisciplinary Faculty of Ouarzazate (now the Faculty of Languages, Letters and Arts). It was made under the academic supervision of professors Rabii El Jouhari, Karima Moukharij and Adil Iqliai.
The cast brings together young talent from Ouarzazate, including members of the Ayour theatre troupe, alongside young actors from Agadir. The director thanked his fellow students on the crew, who gave their time, effort and their own money to bring the film to life.
An international run across three continents
Before Rome, “Al Kouan” reached the final stage of the African film festival at Drake University in Iowa, United States, after being selected from more than 200 films and competing with work from 22 African countries. It was also officially selected for the 12th edition of the FECEA international student film festival in Brazil, and is set to take part in the DIFF26 festival in Cape Verde next month.
This run shows that Moroccan academic film training can produce work that holds its own at international festivals, starting from Ouarzazate, Africa’s capital of cinema.
