The Moroccan city of Tangier is preparing to host the fifteenth edition of the Tangier Film Festival, from November 11 to 14, 2026, in partnership with the Moroccan Cinematographic Center, the Wilaya of Tangier, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, the Tangier Commune, and the El Minzah Hotel, as part of an institutional collaboration aimed at supporting cultural and artistic mobility and enhancing the city's cinematic influence.
In the context of its preparations for this edition, the festival management unveiled the international competitive program, which includes short fiction, documentary, and feature film competitions, with the participation of cinematic productions representing a number of countries and cultures, in addition to announcing the tribute to Moroccan actress Farah El Fassi during the opening ceremony.
The international programming for this edition reflects the festival's orientation towards openness to global cinematic experiences, through works that vary in their themes, narrative styles, and aesthetics, and which evoke human, social, and cultural issues, making Tangier a space for filmmakers to meet, exchange visions and expertise, and an opportunity for the Moroccan public to discover creative experiences from all over the world.
20 films from 19 countries in the International Short Film Competition
The international short film competition, fiction category, includes 20 cinematic works representing 19 countries, in a participation that reflects the diversity of cinematic schools and the multiplicity of creative visions in the field of short film.
The list of selected films includes works from Spain, the United Kingdom, Palestine, France, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Portugal, Uruguay, Finland, Greece, Sweden, Ireland, Kuwait, Bangladesh, China, Russia, Haiti, and Morocco.
Spain participates with the film "There is a God Inside Us" by director Olivia Ramirez, the United Kingdom with the film "The Healer" by director Will Jewell, while Palestine is present through the film "I'm Happy You're Dead Now" by director Tawfik Barhom, alongside the French film "Pale Sun" by directors Adrien Dolan and Jouhen Zentar, and the Brazilian film "Alin" by director Dekel Berenson.
From Egypt, two films were selected: "Zizo" by director Khaled Moit and "Stuck" by director Bahy Taha, while South Africa participates with the film "Eagles" by director Dian Weys, Portugal with the film "Prayer" by director Sofia Geviler, and Uruguay with the film "Good Manners" by director Lulu Carmela.
The list also includes the joint film between Finland and Greece "All the Love in My Body" directed by Carmen Baltzar, the Swedish film "175" by director Sepehr Nosrati, the Irish film "Mary is Missing" by director Aisling Byrne, the Kuwaiti film "Your Excellency" by director Mosaed Al-Qudaifi, in addition to the Greek film "Last Tropical Orbits" by director Thanasis Trouboukis.
From Asia, the film "Ali" by director Adnan Al-Rajiv participates representing Bangladesh, and the film "Hippo" by director JJ Lin from China, while Russia is present with the film "Recoil" by director Dmitry Marin, and Haiti with the film "Blue Heart" by director Samuel Souffrin, while Morocco is represented in this competition by the film "Caravaggio's Shadow".
The festival management praised the efforts of the short fiction film selection committee, considering that the selected works provide the audience with the opportunity to view diverse artistic experiences and discover cinematic visions belonging to different cultural and creative backgrounds.
13 films in the International Documentary Film Competition
Documentary cinema is present in the competitive program through an international competition that includes 13 films, presenting diverse directorial experiences and visual aesthetics, and addressing human, social, environmental, and cultural issues, investing the potential of the documentary film in exploring reality, documenting transformations, and providing narratives that transcend geographical and cultural boundaries.
The list includes the film "Lake of Orphans" by director Salem Bilal, "No Life on Mars" by Mohamed Chawki, "Notes from the Third Planet" by Simon Ellis, alongside the joint work "Hair, Paper, Water..." by directors Nicolas Groux and Minh Quy Truong, the film "To the West, in Zapata" by David Beam, and "Children of the Desert" by Thijs Borsten.
The competition also includes the film "Free Fish" by Palestinian director Bisan Owda, "Men of God" by Moroccan director Ikram Azfoud, "I Wanted to Hear Your Voice" by director James Belrito, "52 Machines" by directors Gregorio Sassoli and Alejandro Cifuentes, as well as "Guardian of the Well" by directors Bentley Brown and Taher Ben Mohamed Zein, "Qarun's Treasure" by Mohannad Diab, and "The Eye of the Spin" by Mohamed Hilal.
This competition is judged by a committee that includes Moroccan producer Abdeslam El Meftahi, Qatari producer Abdulrahman Al-Mana, and poet and writer Ikram Abdi, in a composition that combines experience in film production with artistic and literary sensibility, allowing for a multi-angled critical approach to the competing works.
Six films compete in the International Feature Film Competition
As for the international feature film competition, it includes six fiction works representing cinematic experiences from Russia, Sudan, Malaysia, China, Morocco, and Tunisia, and offers a diversity of directorial approaches and human and artistic themes.
Russia participates with the film "Her Cold Heart" by director Vladimir Kott, Sudan with the film "Cotton Queen" by director Suzannah Mirghani, while Malaysia and China are present through the joint work "Where the Bright Sun Rises" by director Lam Can-Jhao.
Morocco is represented in this competition by two films: "The Ants" by director Yassine Fannai and "Mira" by director Nour-Eddine Lakhmari, while Tunisia participates with the film "Round 13" by director Mohamed Ali Nahdi.
The festival management assigned the task of judging this competition to a committee that includes producer and director of the Dakhla International Festival Zine El Abidine Charafeddine from Morocco, Portuguese producer Frederico Serra, Omani director Mohamed Al-Ajmi, and Moroccan screenwriter and journalist Said Nafea, in a composition that combines multiple experiences in the fields of production, directing, and screenwriting.
Tribute to Farah El Fassi at the opening ceremony
On the level of celebratory segments, the festival management announced the tribute to Moroccan actress Farah El Fassi during the opening ceremony of the fifteenth edition, scheduled to be held on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, at the Ahmed Boukmakh Cultural Complex hall in Tangier.
This tribute comes in recognition of an artistic career characterized by presence in cinema and television, and the artist's ability to embody diverse and complex characters, through works that ranged between social drama, comedy, and historical works, in addition to artistic choices that contributed to consolidating her presence among the Moroccan and Arab public.
Farah El Fassi has accumulated artistic experience through multiple participations in television and cinematic productions, cementing her position among the female names present in the Moroccan artistic scene, and her participation in a number of artistic events and forums has served as an opportunity to introduce Moroccan cinema beyond its national borders.
This celebration constitutes a station of loyalty to the artist's path and her contributions in the field of acting, and it also falls within the festival's tradition of celebrating artistic names that have left their mark on the Moroccan cinematic and television scene.
A bet on cinematic influence and cultural dialogue
Through the diversity of its international competitions, the multiplicity of nationalities of the participating films, the composition of the judging committees, as well as the tribute segment, the fifteenth edition of the Tangier Film Festival bets on strengthening the city's position on the map of cinematic events in Morocco, and expanding the bridges of communication between creators, producers, directors, and the public.
This programming also seeks to support the presence of short, documentary, and feature fiction films, provide a space to introduce different cinematic experiences, and encourage artistic and cultural dialogue between filmmakers from Morocco and abroad, in a new edition that aspires to consolidate Tangier's position as a space for openness, creativity, and cinematic encounter.
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