A renewed reading of the Saharan filmmaker’s presence at the 25th National Film Festival
Introduction: When Art Listens to the Footsteps of Sand
In the “Tangier Cinema Pulse” section of Diplomacy Magazine, our attention shifts this time to a voice rising from the Moroccan Sahara — a voice that does not seek slogans or excess light, but carries a camera that has become, in his hands, a bridge between human experience and the desert, between identity and memory, between art and cultural diplomacy.
This is Salem Bilal, a filmmaker whose images resemble him: calm on the surface, yet pulsing with inner intensity. For him, a frame is never just a frame — it is a form of dialogue.
In his universe, cinema is not merely crafted; it becomes a language written with shadow and light, a way of translating the human condition through the vast silence of the Sahara.
Body: A Filmmaker Who Writes With the Desert
From Hassani Theatre to a Camera Seeking Humanity
Salem Bilal began not in film schools, but on a modest theatre stage in the Saharan South, guiding children through their first artistic steps.
There, he discovered a truth: the most honest stories are born far from the noise of cities, and the desert is not emptiness — it is memory.
This early artistic sensibility later evolved into a cinematic vision rooted in authenticity and human intimacy.
“Summer Bundle”… From Local to Universal
Among his works, the documentary “Summer Bundle” stands out as a turning point.
The film approaches isolation not as withdrawal, but as a conscious harmony with space — an attempt to understand how human beings coexist with the vastness around them.
Its success on the international festival circuit transformed a local narrative into a cultural bridge.
Audiences abroad discovered a Sahara that is alive, emotional, and far richer than stereotypical depictions.
The Sahara Cinema Lab… A Declaration of Artistic Independence
Through his involvement in the Sahara Cinema Lab, Salem Bilal is part of a rising generation working to free Saharan cinema from outdated frameworks.
He champions a straightforward yet essential idea: creators from the South must be able to produce their own images, narratives, and artistic identities.
Selected Interview Exchanges with Salem Bilal
■ How do you describe your cinematic relationship to the desert?
“The desert is not a backdrop to me… it is a way of thinking.
It forces you to listen. It offers a light that reveals what truly matters.
I try to understand human beings through that landscape.”
■ Many describe your cinema as carrying a diplomatic dimension. Do you agree?
“If diplomacy is the art of creating dialogue between cultures, then yes.
A film creates dialogue.
When a foreign audience connects with a story from the Moroccan Sahara, that is cultural diplomacy in motion.”
■ Where does ‘Summer Bundle’ stand in your journey?
“It taught me that the more local a story is, the more universal it becomes.
Authenticity resonates — everywhere.”
■ What do you wish for Hassani cinema today?
“That it becomes autonomous, confident.
That Saharan filmmakers stop being secondary characters in their own narratives.”
Conclusion: A Presence That Extends Beyond the Screen
At the 25th National Film Festival, Salem Bilal is far more than a participating filmmaker; he embodies a renewed artistic breath, linking creation to heritage and cinema to cultural diplomacy.
His work reveals that the Moroccan Sahara is not a marginal landscape, but a central cultural space with stories worth telling.
In many ways, he stands out as one of the emblematic figures of this edition — an artist reshaping how the South writes itself into Morocco’s cinematic memory.
