Event: 4 – 6 June 2026
Cinema often begins long before a film reaches the screen. It starts with an idea, a sketch, a story waiting to be shaped. It is precisely this creative journey that the first edition of the Atlas Next Frame Festival sought to highlight. Held from 4 to 6 June 2026 at the French Institute of Casablanca, the event brought together emerging filmmakers, visual artists, and animation professionals around a shared commitment to exploring new ways of telling stories through images.
Among the projects recognized during this inaugural edition was L’Unparfait, created by Mouad Souirdi, a student at the Centre of Excellence in Design and Applied Arts of Ibn Tofail University. His project received the La Fabrique Prize, one of the festival’s distinctions dedicated to supporting works that are still evolving and accompanying them beyond the competition stage.
Initiated by the association Rasm’Art, Atlas Next Frame was conceived as a platform devoted to student animation and new visual practices. Bringing together productions from different schools and institutions, the festival offered an environment where creativity, technical expertise, and artistic experimentation could meet. Over three days, screenings, conferences, masterclasses, and professional encounters transformed Casablanca into a space for dialogue between experienced practitioners and the next generation of creators.
More than a showcase for completed films, the festival emphasized the importance of the creative process itself. Through its various activities, participants were invited to exchange experiences, discover different approaches to animation, and reflect on the evolving relationship between storytelling and the technologies shaping contemporary visual culture.
Within this framework, the La Fabrique Prize carries particular significance. According to the festival’s regulations, the award combines financial support with production-development assistance, reflecting a desire to accompany promising projects as they move from concept to realization.
By receiving this distinction for L’Unparfait, Mouad Souirdi joins the first generation of laureates of Atlas Next Frame Festival. His achievement illustrates how academic spaces can become fertile grounds for artistic expression and how student projects can gradually find their place within Morocco’s wider creative ecosystem.
As the festival begins to establish itself within the country’s cultural landscape, initiatives of this kind continue to open new horizons for young filmmakers and reaffirm the role of education in supporting emerging voices and shaping the future of visual storytelling.