The Moroccan director, screenwriter, and producer, Asmae El Moudir has won the Grand Prize Etoile d'Or of the 20th Marrakech International Film Festival for her film The Mother of All Lies. Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 20th edition of the Festival, Asmae El Moudir expressed her heartfelt thanks and immense gratitude to King Mohammed VI. This winner of the Atlas Workshops, an industry talent-development program initiated in 2018 by the Marrakech International Film Festival, took the opportunity to share her story with the audience. She emphasized her journey from one workshop to another to meet directors and screenwriters participating in this platform, ensuring that she did not miss anything and fully benefited from their knowledge and experiences. She also thanked the Festival's organizing committee, including Mélita Toscan du Plantier, advisor to the President of the Marrakech Film Festival Foundation, Rémi Bonhomme, the Festival's artistic director, and Ali Hajji, the Festival's general coordinator. The Mother of All Lies tells the story of the young filmmaker Asmae, who visits her parents in Casablanca to help them move. While at home, Asmae begins sorting through the old belongings of her childhood. Suddenly, she comes across a photo that becomes the starting point of an investigation where Asmae questions all the little lies her family told her. Asmae explores the memory of her neighborhood and her country as she delves into the past. This 96-minute Arabic-language film became the first Moroccan film to win the Etoile d'Or in the history of the International Film Festival of Marrakech. Released in 2023, it also won the Best Director award in the «Un Certain Regard» section of the Cannes Film Festival. In addition to the Grand Prize, Morocco is also represented in this edition's awards through the film «Hounds» by Kamal Lazraq, which tied with «Bye Bye Tibériade» by Lina Soualem (Palestine) for the Jury Prize. Born in Salé in 1990, Asmae El Moudir has directed documentaries for several Moroccan and foreign television channels. After several short films, she directed «La Carte postale» in 2020, selected at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and the International Film Festival of Marrakech.
