Named the EFM’s Country in Focus, the North African nation is shifting from production service hub to creative powerhouse — driven by cash incentives, emerging talent and a push to create content with global appeal.
Analysis & Context
Named the EFM’s Country in Focus, the North African nation is shifting from production service hub to creative powerhouse — driven by cash incentives, emerging talent and a push to create content with global appeal. This article provides comprehensive coverage and analysis of current events.
Named the EFM’s Country in Focus, the North African nation is shifting from production service hub to creative powerhouse — driven by cash incentives, emerging talent and a push to create content with global appeal.
Morocco shoot Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment For more than a century, international productions have chased Morocco’s light, its chameleon-like geography and its infrastructure — a place where the Atlas Mountains can stand in for snowcapped worlds, the Sahara can double for the Middle East and historic cities such as Marrakech and Casablanca slip between eras. What’s changing — and what the European Film Market spotlights by selecting Morocco as its 2026 Country in Focus — is its coming of age as a creative engine, driven by an increasingly export-minded generation of producers. Related Stories Movies Inside Canada's Indie Co-Production Boom TV 'Tehran' TV Series Producer Dana Eden Found Dead at 52 in Hotel in Greece During Season 4 Shoot “Morocco has established itself as a dynamic bridge between Africa, the Arab world and Europe. Filmmakers such as Sofia Alaoui, Hicham Lasri, Maryam Touzani and Nabil Ayouch reflect the strength and visibility of contemporary Moroccan cinema, including the rising presence of women directors,” says Berlinale Pro Director Tanja Meissner. “This combination of creative momentum, industrial capacity and openness to international collaboration makes this the right moment to spotlight Morocco and engage in a broader conversation about its role within global line production.” For Kasbah Films founder Karim Debbagh, Morocco’s presence this year in Berlin is a full-circle moment. “When I was 19 years old, I met a German filmmaker from Berlin who was scouting for three films that were based on Paul Bowles’ short stories [Frieder Schlaich’s Paul Bowles: Halfmoon],” he says. “This is how I entered the film industry. In 1995, the film premiered in Berlin; I was invited, and it won the Critics’ Prize. Now, after 30 years, I am back in Berlin to present my own project for the first time. It means a lot to me.” Debbagh’s arc reads like a case study in Morocco’s current evolution: international training, a decisive return to local storytelling and a pragmatic relationship with global production dollars. “I went to the German Film Academy in Ludwigsburg and studied film, and afterwards I tried to make my living in Germany. But then I realized that I am not the one who’s going to tell the stories of Germans. I would rather go back to my country, where I identify with my culture and tell our story.” What he found on returning to Morocco were “very small opportunities for financing films. That’s why I got into the world of production services,” he says. In 2005, he created Kasbah Films to support Moroccan and international auteur cinema and to provide executive production services for major foreign productions filmed in Morocco. “Around 2008 was my first American movie with Dan Myrick, The Objective,” Debbagh says. International TV series and films such as The Wheel of Time, Men in Black: International and A Hologram for the King followed. Kasbah Films’ productions include Moroccan films such as The Damned Don’t Cry directed by Fyzal Boulifa, featured in the official selection of the Venice Film Festival in 2022 and the recipient of multiple international prizes; Life Suits Me Well by Al Hadi Ulad Mohand, winner of the grand jury prize at the Tangier National Film Festival in 2022 and selected for Rotterdam in 2021; and Traitors from Sean Gullette, selected at the Marrakech and Tribeca film festivals and awarded at several international festivals. This year, Debbagh arrives at the Berlinale with projects to pitch, including Eternal Peace, directed by Boulifa, Looking For Bacchus, directed by Ali Essafi, and Interzone, a series created by Michael Dreher. At Morocco’s Country in Focus programming — including a Producers’ Spotlight on Feb. 13 — he and nine other producers are presenting fiction, documentary and series projects intended to reflect contemporary Moroccan storytelling. The Berlinale Series Market Showcase, on Feb. 16, crystallizes one of Morocco’s most strategic shifts: moving from a service destination for other people’s stories to a creator of exportable intellectual property, including series designed from inception for international co-production. Titled “Moroccan Series on the Rise: From Local Success to Global Ambitions,” the event promises an overview of Morocco’s TV fiction landscape spanning drama, comedy and crime. The showcase centers on a core question: What structural shifts are needed to move from local success to globally oriented productions? Salim Cheikh, CEO of broadcaster 2M, is slated to address audience success, production f
