The Kenitra Film Club organized the sixth edition of the Sebou Short Film Festival at the City Hall's main hall. An artistic event that will henceforth be inscribed in the annals of the Gharb capital.

All the ingredients were brought together to make this cinematographic event a real celebration.

All the participants agreed to say that there was an osmosis between the cinephile public and the filmmakers present. Sixteen films by Moroccan directors were in official competition during this edition organized in collaboration with the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre, but only three prizes were awarded. The First City Prize was awarded to "When They Sleep" by Meriem Touzani, the special jury prize went to "The Left Hand" by Fadel Chouika, and the third prize for originality was awarded to the short film "The Waves of Time" masterfully interpreted by the great actor Mohamed El Khalfi. After the screening of four short films out of competition, the jury decided to grant a special mention to the short films "Al Qods... Ya Bnadem" by Mustapaha Echaâbi and "Red Light" by Abdallah Abou Jida. Three prizes were awarded subsequently.

One of the highlights of the festival is the tribute paid to two sacred monsters of Moroccan cinema, the director Farida Belyazid and the dean of Moroccan actors Mohamed El Khalfi. With an emotional voice, the director of "Kid Nssa", "A Door to the Sky", and "Juanita of Tangier" declared on this occasion that the city of Kenitra occupied a special place in her life, recalling in this regard that she had had two daughters, Aïda and Kenza, from a first marriage with the late militant Moumen Diouri. Farida Belyazid also wanted to thank the organizers and the public for the warm welcome she received. And to conclude with a quip from the Spanish director Carlos Saura: "cinema is my life". The large hall of the Kenitra municipality experienced another moment of great emotion when the actor Mohamed El Khalfi went up to the stage to receive the trophy. He was long applauded by a public that came in large numbers. "This moment," he says, "awakened in me memories of 52 years of cinematographic career. I knew that the Kenitra public was in love with the 7th art and the welcome that has just been reserved for me confirms it. The theatre actor or the cinema actor," he adds, "cannot continue without the support of a public that loves and appreciates them." Mohamed El Khalfi did not fail on this occasion to severely criticize certain producers "greedy for money who exploit actors and care little about their professional career".

During his welcome speech, the president of the Kenitra Film Club, Mokhtar Ait Omar, deplored the closure and demolition of the six cinemas that the city had. He announced in this regard the constitution of a collective composed of personalities from the city of various artistic and intellectual sensibilities who will act in consultation with the departments concerned for the reopening of the Palace cinema, an architectural jewel classified as a historical monument by the Ministry of Culture.

The jury of this sixth edition of the Sebou short film festival was chaired by the great Moroccan director Jilali Ferhati, surrounded by the filmmaker Bouchra Ijork and Khalid Soulami, an associative actor and former director of the AREF of El-Jadida.

Several great names of Moroccan cinema took part in the sixth edition. We can cite the directors Chrif Tribek, Driss Chouika, Abdelmajid R’chiche, and Abdelkrim Derkaoui, the actors Mohamed Khouyi, Mohamed Choubi, Abdellah Amrani, Houda Rihani, Noureddine Ziane, Fatima Boujou, Majda Zabita... The filmmakers participating in the Sebou short film festival visited the children in difficult situations at "Dar Lakbira". They inquired about the comfortable living and accommodation conditions of these children who previously only had the street as a space for existence.

-* "The Waves of Time" (2011) by Ali Benjelloun,

-* "The Left Hand" (2011) by Fadel Chouika,

-* "More Than a Life" (2012) by Mohamed Merouazi,

-* "Black Love" (2012) by Nabil Ahtar,

-* "Help Africa" (2011) by Zainab Toubali,

-* "The Recruitment" (2012) by Abdessalam El Kelaii,

-* "The Lawyer" (2011) by Tarek Asmouz El Jawhari,

-* "When They Sleep" (2011) by Meriem Touzani,

-* "Al Qods… Ya Bnadem" (2012) by Mustapaha Echaâbi,

-* "Round Trip" (2011) by Zakaria Naciri,

-* "Wake Up" (2011) by Mohamed Niya,

-* "Siren" (2011) by Mohamed Hatim Bel Mahdi,

-* "Robio" (2011) by Mohamed Rouini,

-* "6 h 15 minutes" (2011) by Karimi Mouna,

-* "Red Light" (2011) by Abdallah Abou Jida,

-* "Wish" (2012) by Tarek El Konach.