The Ismaili City will experience the magic of animated cinema on the occasion of the twelfth edition of the FICAM, which reserves for its public a programme dedicated this year to Belgium. In the presence of great names in Belgian animation, this edition has the particularity of taking place for the first time simultaneously in the different cities of the French Institute of Morocco network, from 25 to 27 March 2013. Having become an unmissable event in the global animated cinema agenda, this prestigious festival has managed to acquire the maturity that has allowed it to rise to the forefront of events dedicated to animated cinema in Africa and the Arab world. Offering a passionate and curious public the opportunity to discover unpublished stories, new images and ever more innovative animations, the French Institute of Meknès, initiator of the FICAM, relies on a programme combining creativity, originality and magic, with the presence of great names in world animation. Thus, in addition to the screening of the best international productions, the festival will be marked this year, as in every edition, by the organisation of various activities in parallel with the screenings. These include cinema lessons, public-professional meetings "A Mint Tea", in addition to the international short animated film competition. A bookshop, a signing session around the links between children's books and animated films, and exhibitions are also on the menu of the FICAM this year. In its approach to promoting animated cinema in Morocco and supporting young Moroccan talent, the FICAM organises the Aïcha Grand Prix for Animation. This competition has rewarded a young Moroccan screenwriter since 2006, allowing them to make their first animated film thanks to a prize worth 50,000 dirhams. In the same framework, and in order to contribute to the emergence of Moroccan talent in the animated film industry, the festival provides various mechanisms targeting an audience of students, young graduates, future professionals and Moroccan professionals. These mechanisms concern training workshops with great directors, professional meetings, school screenings and awareness workshops. With the ambition of familiarising the various Moroccan audiences with animated cinema and the evolution of its forms through image education work, the FICAM also addresses the family public with open-air and school screenings, as well as meetings with the general public. Let us recall that the FICAM 2012 took place in the form of a retrospective of eleven years of existence. On this occasion, a selection of the best films that have marked the festival, as well as testimonies collected from great directors, producers and distributors (Michel Ocelot, Barry Purves, Erica Russell, Koji Yamamura, Jimmy Murakami, Isao Takahata...) who have participated in the various editions of the FICAM, were presented in the various Moroccan cities.

As one of the most appreciated events in the programme of the Meknès International Festival of Animated Cinema, the public-professional meeting "A Mint Tea" is distinguished by its concept which highlights conviviality and the proximity of the public with the great names of animated cinema on a global scale. Emblematic of the values of the FICAM, "A Mint Tea", an informal meeting acclaimed by the public, constitutes a unique opportunity to meet the artists and speakers invited within the framework of the FICAM and to exchange with them reflections on the magical universe of animated cinema.