Cherien Dabis, Lina Soualem, Marwan Hamed, Nassers 

Lina Soualem’s Spain-set family tale “Alicante,” Walid Messnaoui’s gangster Western “The Last Beast of Atlas” and Linda Lô’s search-for-identity drama “Lucky Girl” rank as buzz titles at the 7th Atlas Workshops, running Dec. 1-5 at the Marrakech Festival. 

“Mud” director Jeff Nichols has already been announced as this year’s Workshops tutor. 

They will also unveil first images from three of the most awaited movies from the Arab world – from “Amreeka” director Cherien Dabis and “The Yacoubian Building” helmer Marwan Hamed and Tarzan and Arab Nasser, behind Palestine Oscar entry “Gaza Mon Amour.”

Adding to this, however, are a slew of first or second features by young filmmakers hailing from Morocco, Africa and the Arab world who have already gained Academy Awards or big fest recognition, giving the 2024 Atlas Workshops one of the highest-caliber and exciting lineups of any development program this year.

“Arab and African cinema is now being selected at the world’s big festivals. Projects are now being structured as strong potential films for the international market. Rather than just social drama fiction – which we still need – filmmakers are embracing all genres, finding highly creative ways to reflect the drama and hope of our world,” Atlas Workshops director Hédi Zardi told Variety, adding that his selection criteria has been “bold original stories which can also connect with market demand.”   

Heading potential Workshop standouts this year, having made a splash at 2009’s Sundance with “Amreeka,” about being Arab in America, and “May in the Summer,”about being American in the Middle East, Dabis will present first images of “All That’s Left of You,” a multi-generational tale about being Palestine, shot in Arabic. 

A revenge drama from brothers Tarzan and Arab Nasser, “Once Upon a Time in Gaza” weighs in as the Workshop’s biggest…