Event: 10 July 2026
Cinema can give form to experiences that are difficult to express and bring overlooked realities into public discussion. This potential lies at the heart of Hors Champs, a short film by Ibn Tofail University student Fatima Azahra Chakir and her team, which earned Third Prize in the national “Orangez le Cinéma” short-film competition. The distinction was presented on 10 July 2026 during the White Night of Cinema and Democracy at the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco in Rabat.
A student at Ibn Tofail University’s Centre of Excellence in Design and Applied Arts, Fatima Azahra Chakir developed Hors Champs under the supervision of Layla Rahmouni. The Association of Mediterranean Encounters for Cinema and Human Rights (ARMCDH), the competition organizer, describes the film as a sensitive work exploring silences, emotions and realities that often remain invisible. Its recognition demonstrates how student filmmaking can combine artistic practice with engagement in questions of wider social relevance.
The competition formed part of “Orangez le Cinéma,” the first national campaign of its kind in Morocco to mobilize the cinema sector against violence towards women and promote equality within the profession. Launched in November 2025, the campaign brought together the Association of Mediterranean Encounters for Cinema and Human Rights, UN Women and Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, alongside institutional, cultural and educational partners. Developed within the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, it connected education, awareness and creative expression around the need to address gender-based violence and advance equality within the cinema sector.
The initiative included awareness sessions for students from cinema schools and institutes, reaching 820 students across Morocco according to UN Women reporting. A national short-film competition extended this awareness work into creative practice, giving emerging filmmakers an opportunity to approach these issues through audiovisual production and consider how storytelling, images and representation can communicate sensitive subjects to an audience.
This connection between awareness and creation gave the initiative a strong educational dimension. By placing a contemporary social issue within a filmmaking framework, the competition provided students with an opportunity to apply audiovisual practice while reflecting on how complex experiences can be represented and communicated. Creative training was therefore connected with critical reflection and socially engaged communication rather than remaining limited to technical production.
The award was presented within the broader White Night of Cinema and Democracy, where cinema and public discussion were brought into dialogue with questions of rights, citizenship and democracy. This setting placed student productions within a wider cultural conversation and provided emerging filmmakers with a public space in which creative work could contribute to reflection on contemporary social issues.
The Third Prize awarded to Hors Champs highlights the convergence of artistic training, supervised student creation and engagement with a significant societal issue. For Ibn Tofail University, the achievement reflects an approach to higher education in which creative practice can connect learning with wider social concerns, enabling student work to contribute to awareness, dialogue and a more informed understanding of contemporary challenges.