Marrakech Film Festival pays tribute to late Moroccan actress Naïma Elmcherqui

The Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM 2024) paid posthumous tribute on Tuesday at the Palais des Congrès to the icon of Moroccan cinema, the late Naïma Elmcherqui, who passed away on October 5th. This ceremony took place in the presence of the deceased's family members, as well as cinema and cultural personalities. The occasion was to honor, in communion, the memory of a woman committed to the national artistic scene.

On this occasion, the daughter of the late Naïma Elmcherqui, Yasmine Khayat, expressed her gratitude to King Mohammed VI and her thanks to Prince Moulay Rachid, president of the FIFM Foundation. She also praised the festival's initiative to pay tribute to her mother, «a singular woman, a lover of cinema», recognized for her humanitarian initiatives in favor of women and children. Yasmine Khayat then received the Golden Star from the hands of actress Fatima Khair, who also gave a moving speech in memory of the deceased.

During this ceremony, directors Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi and Mohamed Mouftakir also praised the contributions of Naïma Elmcherqui, both in front of the camera and beyond the artistic scene, thus embodying an actress with social impact who marked generations. In this sense, they emphasized that her memory remained alive «in the hearts of her friends, colleagues, and her fans». For the organizers of the FIFM, the deceased remains an ambassador of Moroccan culture and «a faithful friend of the Festival», as a member of the board of directors of its Foundation.

Naïma Elmcherqui / Ph. Yassine Toumi - FIFM 2015Naïma Elmcherqui / Ph. Yassine Toumi - FIFM 2015

Naïma Elmcherqui was indeed «a true icon and one of the most appreciated personalities by the Moroccan public». «Her exceptional talent, natural elegance, and legendary kindness illuminated the Moroccan cultural scene since the 1960s», the organizers previously highlighted. «Her career, which took her from the theater stage to the big screen, including television, allowed her to embody a multitude of roles and touch the hearts of several generations of Moroccans», they added.

An engagement in cinema and society

Born in Casablanca, Naïma Elmcherqui marked the father of the arts and the seventh Moroccan art, thanks to her roles in theater with the troupes «Maâmoura», «Bassatine», and those of national radio and television, or on television in the series «La Famille Ram Dam». In cinema, her name is associated with about twenty Moroccan and foreign feature films, as well as several national short and long films, such as «Blood Wedding», «Lalla Houby», and «Kilikis, the City of Owls».

Naïma Elmcherqui presented, from 2000 to 2004, the educational and cultural program «Alif Lam» on Al Aoula for the fight against illiteracy. Moreover, she was a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

At the FIFM, the ceremony in her honor was followed by the screening of the film «The Autumn of the Apple Trees», where Mohamed Mouftakir directed the late Naïma Elmcherqui, who won the Best Actress Award at the Malmö Arab Film Festival (Sweden).