The 21st edition of the Tetouan International Mediterranean Film Festival (FICMT) opened on Saturday evening in Tetouan, with the participation of a host of filmmakers and actors from the Mediterranean rim.

Speaking on this occasion, the president of the FICMT, Ahmed Housni, stressed that this cultural event, placed under the High Patronage of HM King Mohammed VI, aims to promote the values of tolerance and coexistence between peoples.

For his part, the vice-president of the Tangier-Tetouan regional council, Abdelwahed Chaïr, estimated that "Mediterranean culture ensures the convergence of our aims and cinema succeeds brilliantly in making us dream and aspire to a better future". The opening ceremony of this festival, which is being held from 28 March to 4 April, was marked by a vibrant tribute paid to the great lady of theatre, Touria Jabrane.

On this occasion, the Moroccan actress said she was proud and moved by this recognition, noting that Moroccan cinema has reached a stage of maturity thanks to the contributions and sacrifices of the generations who have carried the torch of the 7th art in Morocco since independence.

During this ceremony, which took place in the presence notably of the Wali of the Tangier-Tetouan region, governor of the Tangier-Asilah prefecture, Mohamed El Yaâcoubi and the director general of the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre (CCM), Sarim Fassi-Fihri, a posthumous tribute was also paid to Faten Hamama, a great star of Egyptian and Arab cinema, Mohamed Bastaoui, the Moroccan actor with the memorable smile, Khalid Saleh, a great Egyptian actor and Francesco Rosi, a great figure of Italian and world cinema.

The ceremony was closed by the screening of the Spanish film "Marshland" (La Isla minima) by director Alberto Rodriguez, which tells the story of two Spanish policemen and takes place in the early 1980s.

The two heroes, diametrically opposed on an ideological level, are sent to a remote village, located in the Guadalquivir marshes, to investigate the disappearance of two teenagers. In a community locked in the past, they have to face