Syrian film “Photograph” wins Souss Prize for the Best Short Fiction Film at Souss International Film Festival in Morocco
The Syrian short film “Photograph” has won the “Souss Prize for the Best Short Fiction Film” at the 13th Souss International Short Film Festival in Morocco, adding a new achievement for the Syrian cinema, director of the film Almohannad Kalthoum said in a statement to “Syria Times” on Monday.
The festival was held between May 21st and 24th 2021 in Ait Melloul city in virtual mode under the theme “Cinema and Social Change”.
Kalthoum clarified that “Photograph” took part in the official competition of the festival that included 18 short fiction films and 8 documentary films from 20 countries, namely Morocco, France, Belgium, Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Hungary, Palestine, Lebanon, Libya and Egypt.
According to Kalthoum, the film, the scenario of which was written by Bouthaina Na’eeseh, depicts the repercussions of the war in Syria on Syrian children. It tackles child labor and the difficult economic circumstances that force children to leave schools and look for a job to support their families. The film also highlights the situation of children in the post-war stage as well as man’s struggle to survive.
“Photograph”, which is the production of the National Film Organization, stars Suleiman al-Ahmad, Ghaleb Shandoubeh, Jamal al-Ali, Safouh Mimas and Itab Abu Sa’da.
The jury of Souss Festival included Iraqi-German director Nouzad Chikhani, Spanish director Jorge Onieva Hermandez, film critic Yasmine Bouchfer, scenarist Mohamed El Alaoui and researcher in aesthetic expression Abdessalam Dekhan.
The Festival devoted five prizes for its 13th edition, namely “Souss Prize for the Best Short Fiction films”, “Souss Prize for the Best Short Documentary film”, “Souss Prize for Best Screenplay”, “Jury Prize” and “Cinematographic Image Prize”.
The festival was organized by the Comedia Workshop for Cinematographic Creativity (L’Atelier Comédia pour la creativity cinématographique) in partnership with the municipality of Ait Melloul, the Council of Souss Massa, the Faculty of Languages, Arts and Human Sciences of Ait Melloul and with the support of the Moroccan Cinematographic Center.
According to the festival’s organizers “the 13th edition of Souss International Short Film Festival intended to celebrate artistic creation through short films (fiction and documentary) and to identify the social changes and disturbances that the world is experiencing, through the different cinematographic experiences and visions.”
Report: Hamda Mustafa