Since its creation in 1985 by the association “Friends of Tetouan Cinema” (FTC), The Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival has never ceased to promote mare nostrum cinematographies and to uphold the values of a demanding and diverse cinephilia. Known for its commitment and contribution to the dissemination of Mediterranean cinema, the festival is first and foremost that of a city, Tetouan, fertile ground for the arts which, from music to the visual arts, has housed and continues to host artistic movements. which know an influence well beyond the region. It is therefore in this city with a favorable cultural climate that, quite naturally, a handful of teacher-film enthusiasts imagined this project, even as the film clubs, in which they were formed, were disappearing in Morocco.
Since then, this geographical specialization, pioneer in its time, expresses the identity of the Festival, conceals its project to promote another cinema, certainly different from the one presented in the theaters, but carrying universal values, attached to the subjects which agitate the citizen of the Mediterranean countries.
Two years later, another landmark event will mark the history of this great cinematographic event. This is the decision taken by ACT to create, in consultation with its partners and loyal friends, The Tetouan Mediterranean Film Festival Foundation. This courageous initiative will aim, among others, to ensure the sustainability of this project, to establish itself in the national and Mediterranean landscape and to boost its output.
Thus, the month of April 2006 saw the official birth of the Foundation chaired by Mr. Mohammed Nabil Ben Abdallah, an eminent political figure in our country and an intellectual passionate about literature and cinema. He has always expressed his interest in the future and the continuity of this Festival, of which he has supported the team in the most critical moments. The five editions he chaired were very successful, and the Festival enjoyed, under his chairmanship, a reputation hailed by the public, professionals and the press.
Recalled by his many responsibilities, Mr. Mohamed Nabil Ben Abdellah is leaving the presidency of the Foundation to remain one of the festival’s greatest friends and its most precious support.
Being a festival in perpetual motion, thirsty for renewal and constantly open to new experiences, The Foundation is entering a new era with another cinephile, founder of ACT and the tetouan Film Meetings. Ahmed El Housni, student of film clubs and director of the Festival, becomes the 2nd President of the Foundation of the FCMT. The task of the Director is entrusted to Nourddine BEN DRISS.
Since 2017, the new President will have for concern to enrich the festival, to open it to new experiences andnew cinematographies, to vary its programming, to diversify its sections, to make openings on its entourage in a participative spirit, and to make it, above all, attentive to the expectations of its audience.
This desire for openness will be concretized by the original idea of entrusting a great personality from the country with the Honorary Presidency of the Festival. It is in this spirit that the choice was made on the painter Mr. Mehdi Qotbi. This choice is by no means fortuitous. The Festival’s relations with the Plastic Arts are rooted in the history of this unprecedented cinematographic event in Morocco since its 1st edition in 1985. Indeed, another great painter has accompanied the festival since its creation, giving it this “plastic” dimension. . This is Abdelkrim Ouazzani. The very seat of the festival was voluntarily domiciled at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan. All this underlines the will of the organizers to match the cinema, with the plastic arts.
In addition, Mehdi Qotbi is undoubtedly one of the great figures of Art in Morocco and the Mediterranean. His works are exhibited in major museums around the world.
Today, the Festival has become an unmissable event for filmmakers, professionals and lovers of Mediterranean cinema. Its impressive history is the pride of the city, the region and our country.
Reminder that the festival hosted the greatest figures of Mediterranean cinema, of which we can cite as an example:
Youssef Chahine (Egypt), Agnès Varda (France), Mohamed Abderrahmane Tazi (Morocco), Lucas Belvaux (Belgium), Faouzi Bensaïdi (Morocco), Gianni Amelio (Italy), Houda Soltane (Egypt), Giuseppe Tornatore (Italy), Nabila Oubaid (Egypt), Jane Birkin (France), Farid Chawki (Egypt), Ismael Ferroukhi (Morocco), Jean-Claude Brisseau (France), Mohamed Miftah (Morocco), Nadia Lotfi (Egypt), Salah Abou Saïf (Egypt), Daoud Oulad Syad (Morocco), Olivier Assayas (France), Boussy (Egypt), André Téchiné (France), Ahmed El Fichaoui (Egypt), Amal Ayouch (Morocco), Georges Chamoune (Lebanon), Mai Masri (Lebanon), Katia Gerou (Greece), Brigitte Rouan (France), Hamid Bennani (Morocco), Kyriaskos Katzourakis (Greece), Antonio Jiminez Rico (Spain), Tayfun Pirsmuglo (Turkey), Rachid El Ouali (Morocco), Azzedine Meddour (Algeria), Roberto Midi (Italy), Hind Sabri (Tunisia), Abdelatif Banammar (Tunisia), Luis Berlanga (Spain), Anne Brochet (France), Michel Khalifi (Palestine), Mouna Wassef (Syria), Reda Behi (Tunisia), Branko Schmidt (Croatia)…Claudia Cardinale ( Italy ) Imanol Arias’(Spain) Jillali Ferhati ( Morocco) , Mohamed Chrif Tribak ( Morocco) Farida Belyasid ( Morocco) Ahmed Hilmi (Egypt)