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Marrakech Short Film Festival is Back with New International Competition and Expanded Low-Budget Program
Fez– The Marrakech Short Film Festival (MARRAKECHsFF) is back this year with more ambition, more countries, and a stronger focus on storytelling that crosses borders and budgets.
For its fifth edition, the festival introduces a brand-new international competition into its programming, its most significant step yet toward becoming a truly global space for short films.
The 2025 edition brings together filmmakers from across the world. We are talking Morocco, Palestine, France, Poland, Jordan, India, Iran, Ghana, Greece, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Mexico, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Iraq, Belgium, DR Congo, Sri Lanka, and El Salvador, this year’s Guest Country, all represented.
It’s a lineup that speaks clearly to the festival’s aim which is to make short films a vehicle for cultural dialogue, not just entertainment.
The new international competition is designed to do just that. It offers filmmakers from underrepresented regions a place to show their work on an international stage, right here in Marrakech.
It’s not just about screening films, it’s about opening up space for creative voices that are often overlooked, and giving them the attention they deserve. For a city known for its ties to global cinema, this feels like a natural next chapter.
While the international section is a new addition, the festival continues to support Moroccan cinema in its own way, especially through its low budget film program.
Introduced in 2023, the program focuses on supporting young Moroccan filmmakers working with minimal resources. It offers production grants, mentorship, and a chance to premiere their films as part of the official selection.
This year, the spotlight falls on “The Nest”, a moving social drama by director Ayoub Boudadi and producer El Meftahi Abdeslam.
Funded through the 2025 grant, and developed in partnership with NADACOME, the film takes on the subject of gender-based violence in a rural Moroccan village.
Quietly intense and rooted in lived experience, the film reflects the kind of raw, unfiltered storytelling the low budget program was built to encourage.
The initiative itself is not just a footnote in the festival’s lineup – it’s a central part of its identity. At a time when Moroccan cinema is evolving fast, this inclusive program has become a way to nurture bold, independent voices that might not otherwise find the support to get started.
“This is our most ambitious edition so far,” said Ramia Beladel, founder and director of the festival in a press release.
“With the international competition and the return of our production support, we’re creating a space for new ideas, for collaboration, and for giving visibility to filmmakers who are usually left out of the spotlight,” Beladel continued.
The Marrakech Short Film Festival is building a space that celebrates short films not as a stepping stone, but as a powerful form in their own right. With each roll of the credits, the gathering is connecting Morocco to the world, quietly, thoughtfully, and with intent.
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