Today, Wednesday, November 19, as part of the Gala screenings of the 46th Cairo International Film Festival, the film Kondava directed by Ali Benjelloun will have its world premiere within the Arab Horizons Competition. The screening is scheduled for 9:00 PM on the Small Theatre stage at the Cairo Opera House.
The film, a 96-minute narrative feature produced in Morocco and presented in Arabic, takes the audience into the heart of a small village in the High Atlas Mountains, where three young men—Said, Ibrahim, and Omar—live with the dream of achieving fame through music. Meanwhile, Fatima and the village women continue singing in the fields as an integral part of their cultural heritage.
However, the arrival of a strict imam in the village challenges everyone, as conflicts emerge and seeds of division are sown between those who deny their Amazigh identity under pressure from militant discourse and those who choose to resist in order to preserve their heritage. The peaceful life turns into an open confrontation between memory, identity, and the free voice.
Director Ali Benjelloun enters the world of feature filmmaking for the first time with Kondava, following a career nurtured in a cinematic environment alongside his father, director and producer Hassan Benjelloun. Moving between film sets in Casablanca and after earning a master’s degree in cinematography from France, he worked as a director of photography on narrative, documentary, and television projects, gaining diverse experiences. He also directed the documentary Refugee Path, which addressed political asylum issues, before presenting several short narrative films.
About Cairo International Film Festival
The Cairo International Film Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious festivals in the Arab world and Africa, accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Founded in 1976 and held annually under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, the festival combines artistic and professional aspects, making it a key platform for intercultural dialogue and elevating the presence of Arab cinema on the international stage.
