On November 18 and 19, 2011, Tribeca Cinemas will host the second Moroccan Film Festival. While Morocco has long been utilized by American filmmakers to provide dramatic backdrops for films like Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Rendition and Babel, in recent years the country has developed a strong cinematic tradition all its own. The Moroccan Film Festival gives American audiences a chance to experience this new addition to the world of film, as well as the opportunity to gain a unique perspective on modern Moroccan culture.

Ten feature films are planned over the two-day festival, as well as a number of short student films from the Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels de Marrakech.

Hosted by the Tribeca Cinema in Manhattan, the Festival is sponsored by the High Atlas Foundation. The High Atlas Foundation partners with Moroccan villages to assist in development projects designed and operated by communities themselves. The Foundation emphasizes participatory development, and has a number of ongoing projects ranging from youth development and clean water initiatives to tree planting, women’s cooperatives and irrigation infrastructure.

Tickets can be purchased via the High Atlas Foundation’s website, or via the Tribeca Cinema. If you’d like to make a donation to the event or have an issue with ticket purchases, please feel free to contact Nora Larhouasli Marrakchi, the Festival Co-Chair and HAF Board Member at moroccanfilmfestival@highatlasfoundation.org All proceeds from the event will benefit the work of the High Atlas Foundation.

Written by Margaret Jackson.

Nour Eddine Lakhmari is a Moroccan director and screenwriter. He is best known for the award-winning feature film Casanegra, released in 2008. Casanegra, which has a running time just over two hours, is Lakhmari’s subversion of the iconic film Casablanca. Both films are set in the city of their namesake, but while Casablanca focuses on the exoticism of Morocco’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, Casanegra examines the underbelly of the city by night.

In the film, Lakhmari explores critical issues such as Moroccan social hierarchy, poverty, drug culture and prostitution. The film has won numerous awards including Best Direction at the 2009 Brussels Independent Film Festival, Best Arab Film at the 2009 Damascus Film Festival and Best Director at the 2009 Taormina International Film Festival in Italy. Prior to filming Casanegra, Lakhmari wrote and/or director several other projects including the TV series El Kadia and Le Regard (2005).

Lakhmari was born in Safi on Morocco’s western Atlantic coast in 1964. At the age f 19, he went to France to study pharmacy. After two years, he decided to leave pharmacy school and pursue life as an artist. He continued his studies at the Academy of Cinema in Norway. His next film due to be released in 2012 is Zero.

You can view Lakhmari’s Casanegra (Arabic with French subtitles) here: Casanegra full-length film.

Written by Heather Carreiro.

Photo by riviera 2005.

Those who want to travel to Morocco quickly realize that the true difficulty of arranging a trip to the country is selecting an itinerary. With such varied landscapes—from deserts to mountains to lush forests and plains to vibrant cities—narrowing things down can be half the battle. What you realize shortly after this revelation, though, is that not only does Morocco offer a wealth of opportunities, there are seemingly more each day!

As the country becomes more open to visitors, Moroccans have continued to improve the tourist infrastructure with amazing zeal, and with so many improvements and so much new development, it’s almost as if you’ll never visit the same Morocco twice!

One of the blockbuster openings in 2011 is the Great Getaway Hotel and Spa, just outside of Marrakesh. The ribbon-cutting is set for July this year, and the hotel promises to offer immense luxury and comfort, as well a unique stay in traditional tents and homes. While certainly on the pricey side (rooms start at 90 Euro), for a certain type of traveler the new resort could be the perfect getaway.

If you are looking for a more traditional stay in Marrakesh, both the Fairmont and Ramada hotel chains have announced plans to open hotels in the city (and elsewhere in the country) in 2011. Many other chains are expected to follow suit—just another example of Morocco’s fast immersion in global tourism.

Outside the tourist infrastructure, Morocco is actively modernizing its road and railway network. Those who still remember the long, windy roadway between Marrakesh and Agadir will be thrilled to hear about the nearly completed new highway, sure to do away with the blindside curves. Likewise, cell phone and internet receptivity, services that were spotty only five years ago, have permeated even the smallest mountain towns. These improvements have allowed many villagers to experience the outside world for the first time in their history.

Of course, what’s new to Morocco and what’s new to you may be very different. Maybe you’ve been to the Atlantic coast in Essaouira and Agadir, but the Mediterranean is still uncharted territory. Or maybe you’ve mastered the High Atlas Mountains, but what about the Anti Atlas Mountains further south? Perhaps you’ve only been to the Sahara Desert. Why not visit a lush, eerie cave? Usually a city person? You can take some time out to explore the innumerable small towns and villages along the road to your next stay in Fes or Marrakesh.

You get the idea.

Morocco is anything but static, and with the ongoing changes in the country, visitors can expect to not only experience an interesting culture, but also one that is constantly changing. So why not visit again? You never know what you may find.

Written by Margaret Jackson.

Photo by kassarar.

What does Palmer, Alaska and Ouarzazate in Morocco have in common? Maybe, you can’t think of anything, after all, Morocco is an African country sitting on the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Alaska sits on the Pacific and Bering Sea. Morocco is known for hot weather, Alaska is known for its cold winter. Give up? Let us tell you:

In Morocco, the Marathon de Sables is held annually in the spring. Enter the picture, marathon runner Georgia Stansell. Georgia is runner, self proclaimed “yoga nerd” and teacher, LMT, and one dynamic lady. Being a runner, she regularly visits Lisa’s website, Dreamchasers Outdoor Adventure Club. (Dreamchasers Outdoor Adventure Club, LLC is the Official Marathon des Sables Representative for the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The Marathon of the Sands usually takes place in late March or early April near the town of Ouarzazate, Morocco).

Georgia read about the Marathon de Sables and decided that she wanted to try it. She and her husband, Monte Goodrich, went to Morocco and fell in love with this eclectic country. Of course, Georgia met Touda Didi, a female runner who happens to be Berber. Georgia heard about the program, Woman Athletes Morocco.

After hearing about this program and the poor girls and young women that Touda is trying to reach, Georgia decided to find a way to make a difference. Georgia and her husband own Blue Mountains Wellness Center in Palmer, Alaska. She is collecting sports shoes and running clothing to send to Touda in November. This is her way of giving back to society and making a difference in other peoples lives. She is having a drawing for each person that donates. She is giving away yoga lessons and art valued at $145(US). She will send the donated items to Touda in November.

Georgia and Monte will go next spring to run the Marathon De Sables again. Georgia is bound and determined to finish this grueling race. She knows that it takes a great deal of effort and commitment to run this challenging marathon. For those of you that do not know, the race is run over a seven day period with twenty miles being run for the first three days, fifty miles are run on the four and fifth days, followed by twenty-six on the sixth day and ten miles on the seventh. Georgia believes in being connected to others and doing her part to help those less fortunate than others.

Her collection of running shoes and usable sports clothing is a way to connect with the young women athletes in Morocco. If you wish to donate to Georgia’s project you can call the Blue Mountains Wellness Center at 907-745-9050. Their Email is info@yogaalaska.com. Donate whatever you can to help.

by Carole Morris

Contact Journey Beyond Travel from our “Contact Us” page at http://www.journeybeyondtravel.com for more information.

Two powerful publishing companies recently announced a plan to join forces in effort to boost information distribution in Morocco. Moroc Soir and Knowledge View are coming together to revolutionize the publishing community. Moroc Soir is the leading publisher in Morocco which produces several newspapers and similar online versions daily. The top two papers for this company are the Daily Le Matin published in French and the Arabic Dailies Assabah.

The other powerhouse is the leading publishing and software company that handles newspaper integration online for a majority of the Arab community. This company oversees 20 newspaper online installations that are accessed by roughly 3000 journalists to bring selected news information to local communities each day.

Through this new contract, the two companies will work to increase the level of current information circulation throughout Morocco. This increase will have a direct affect on advertising revenues. Advertising companies will jump at the chance to take out ad space in newspapers with rising circulation numbers. Although the starting point is to increase circulation among print newspapers, the efforts will expand in the near future to include online versions as well.

To achieve the online goals, the two companies will tap into the resources of RAPID Browser support systems. This third company obtains news information from various sources across the World Wide Web. These sources include but are not limited to RSS Feeds, video clips and news wires from all corners of the globe. In addition to this, the company utilizes databanks that can hold large groups of stored information. For this reason, the new contract will call on this service in particular to provide a searchable archives of newspaper information for subscribers to Morocco news.

Both sides of the information team are looking forward to working with one another in an effort to achieve a common goal. Moroc Soir Group understands that in order to be at the top of their game, new and more inventive ways of providing subscribers with information is in constant demand. By meeting this demand, the company is able capitalize on the growth of the Internet as a reliable news source. Teaming up with Knowledge View will provide the necessary resource tools to continue expanding on Moroccan economic and society segments at a moment’s notice.

For Knowledge View, the new contract presents the perfect opportunity to break into the Moroccan news market. Teaming up with the notable company of Moroc Soir, who has a reputable image in the Moroccan media world, is an added bonus. Together the two companies look to expand news media efforts into a majority of the North African media market as well.

by Sam Mitchell

Casablanca is quickly becoming a financial powerhouse point in Morocco. There are several industrial companies relocating portions of plant operations to this area. Some of these are going one step further and moving the entire operation to Casablanca and setting up new headquarters here. Financial experts wishing to keep this industrial growth in a forward motion have called for a need to invest roughly 51.7 Moroccan Dirhams into the Casablanca economy.

The Regional Investment Centre Casablanca (CRI) is establishing a financial plan to invest this money into the Casablanca region within the next three years. The main sectors to receive initial funding are pegged to be the trade, service and industrial sectors. The CRI has pinpointed four developmental strategies through which the funding will be disbursed. These are as follows: The Emergence Plan, 2010 Vision for Morocco Tourism, The Great Projects and finally, Regional Niches.

Falling under the Great Projects section of funding is the areas of Ville Nouvelle, Zenata, Ville Nouvelle d’Anfa and Marina. This area will receive roughly 35 Billion Moroccan Dirhams funding through the Great Projects Strategy plan. Real estate development and urban transportation is the target sectors with an expectation of 105,000 jobs generated as a result.

Under the Emergence Plan, the aeronautics, information technology and business processing sectors will receive the necessary investment funding. These funds are expected to be in the range of 8.7 Billion Moroccan Dirhams. The 2010 Vision for Tourism will have investments totaling 8 Billion Moroccan Dirhams, which will be utilized to promote tourism to the Casablanca area. In order to do this, the CRI sees a need for 100,000 jobs to be added to the employment market.

The final investment phase will see funding go to the renewable energy, finance, health, Morocco tourism and trade franchising sectors. At the present time, the CRI is still researching these sectors to determine the proper amount of funding allocation. Once funding has been determined, an additional 40,000 jobs in these sectors will be needed to ensure all investment projects are enabled to be carried out as planned.

One reason Casablanca is such a financial powerhouse is from the sheer amount of economical growth within the last several years. Add to this a good infrastructure and stable supplies of materials and it is easy to see why investors are quickly flocking to the area on a local, regional and international level.

The four investment development strategies laid out by the CRI are in line with the overall Morocco investment planning. Each of these strategies aids to improve on Casablanca’s economic growth standpoint which will only serve to increase the overall economic picture of Morocco’s economics as well.

…more on Morocco Economics

by Sam Mitchell

Morocco is out of the African Cup race. Ghana was the victors in the match on Monday. Morocco’s Atlas Lions looked good in their opening game against Namibia, winning 5-1. But then they lost their next two matches.

Coach Michel of Morocco feels a bit let down by his players. Changes are being planned ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers. Henri Michel thought his team was ready to compete. He said he thought the team was against a quality group and his team would be tested. The Moroccan team proved not to be at the level they need to be to be competitive against world teams. Coach Michel looks to make major changes in the squad from the grass root level.

Morocco’s Atlas Lions have several months before the World Cup Qualifiers. Coach Michel and the team will sort it all out and move on. The Moroccan coach was displeased with his team that did not make a single tackle during the game against Ghana. But he feels that the qualification was lost in the game against Guinea because of unforced defensive errors. The team made foolish childish errors.

Team members are backing the team even after Coach Michel made his harsh remarks. Moroccan Captain, Youssef Safri, still supports the coach saying that the players have confidence in him. Defender Quaddou said that the team lacked the necessary concentration during the tournament. He agreed that the team needs to learn from their mistakes. And that the Atlas Lions had mistakes in the free kicks. He thinks the team gave away too many goals from free kicks. Quaddou wants to know what Coach Michel has in store for the team now. He looking for the coming changes.

by Carole Morris

Coach Henry Michel has been getting a lot of criticism for Morocco’s team losing in their quest for the African Cup in Ghana. He gave his explanation for the losses and put forth his plans for the future of the Atlas Lions in Morocco at a news conference held last Thursday.

As he rehashed the games that the team lost, he told reporters that he had come there in response to the criticism in the media and to make some suggestions. He began by reminding that most everyone was saying that Morocco would win the African Cup of Nations. However, no one had a plan on how to do it realistically.

Coach Michel of Morocco feels that he should not shoulder the blame for the Morocco Atlas Lion’s Defeat. He reiterated that he is not a miracle worker. He took over the team a short four months ago. He explained that no one could bring together a new group in such a short time. That takes time, working together season after season, year after year.

Coach Michel went on to tell that he had no illusions about winning the match against Ghana team in their own country. Morocco’s team is lacking in quality players. He used the goal keeper as an example saying Morocco has not had a good one since Zaki or a player to rally the other such as Naybet in the past. Coach Michel noted that Morocco has no big players that were local stars before joining prestigious foreign sides. None of Morocco’s players have reached that stature. Henri Michel feels that although a lot of work was done by the various coaches in the past, but there has been a lack of continuity and no follow up.

Coach Michel feels that Morocco has no clear sporting strategy for achieving excellence. He proposes a technical policy which would require pitches, trainers, coaches and finance. The coach said he will re-think the team line-up and include more local players.

Morocco’s Communication Minister and spokesman, Khalid Naciri says that Coach Michel is in no position to make a judgment on Morocco’s sport strategy. He was appointed to run the Moroccan team last August replacing Mohammed Fakhir who left the team at his own request. Michel first coached the Moroccan team in 1995 taking them to the world cup. He was forced to resign after the team performed poorly in the Can 2000.

Coach Michel has ruled out leaving the Morocco Atlas Lions saying that he has a contract until 2010. He is looking forward to taking Morocco to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. He said that Morocco’s clubs will have to put a priority on training.

by Carole Morris

Morocco’s government has a plan to reduce unemployment by expanding job training. Vocational education will provide the labor market with 750,000 graduates over the next four years. Training institutions, both private and public, expect to have a 50% increase in enrollments.

Different measures will be taken to meet the targets. Strengthening partnerships with chambers of commerce, professional associations and business will be promoted and on the job training will be encouraged. Morocco wants to set up sector-based vocational training with professionals on a contractual basis.

A steering committee will be set up to allocate approximately 10 million dirhams for studying the best strategies for realizing these objectives. Actual needs of the labor market will be looked at and a focus on adding new dynamics to the training sector. An emergency action plan will result from the studies enabling necessary reforms to be implemented by the next academic year.

Employment and Vocational Training Minister, Jamal Aghhmani, stressed that the vocational training sector needs to share its strategy with the professional work world. Needs of the future labor market in terms of skills and training can be determined from such an alliance. The strategy will also allow the needs of a growing number of workers who do not fit into the market and the problem of Moroccan unemployment in the country.

Professionals who teach in vocational training institutions say that is not work that is lacking but a lack of trained people to fill the positions. The tourism industry is looking for 70,000 graduates, information and technology industry, including communications, need at least 60,000 as does the agriculture industry. Young people want to learn a trade and have effective career guidance system.

Vocational training is becoming more and more valued. Approximately 4,000 students have joined vocational training in recent years with more Moroccans attending College. Of these, 80% will receive their diploma with almost half earning high marks in the programs. The Moroccan government needs to open at least fifty new training centers and increase the capacity of ten others by 2010. To help graduates find a position, a plan is set up to open 20 national agencies to promote the work and skills to meet a target of seventy agencies in 2008. Another four agencies will be set up to help graduates opting to look for employment in other countries.

…more on Morocco Schools

by Carole Morris

In many situations, there is only one chance to make a first impression. One way to achieve this in terms of home decor is by bringing Moroccan influences into a home. By doing so, there is a certain sophisticated stylish flair being brought into personal surroundings that will have guests feeling as though they just stepped into Morocco itself.

Morocco art styles exhibit a sense of beauty and elegance. It is as if the fabrics, lamps and other accent pieces are telling a story of ancient Moroccan heritage through design. The very feel of the country can be gained through the people and the materials used to create these stunning works of art. In recent years, this decor has undergone style redirection towards bringing vibrant artwork and colors to a home setting.

Cultural influences in decor can be traced back to five various ethic groups. These are Arab, Berber, Islamic, African and Iberian. Each of these groups has heritages that have overcome various obstacles throughout the course of time. Another Moroccan décor influence stems from the European culture during the 1900s.

Although each of these groups has influenced the Moroccan decor in one way or another, true Moroccan heritage has not totally been cast aside. Moroccan traditions, morals and values are seen in all aspects of life. One way this is present is through traditional Moroccan homes containing a garden that is the central interior portion of the house. This is known as a Moroccan Riad in Moroccan heritage dating back almost five centuries ago.

Moroccan decor is no different. The techniques, styles and colors utilized in creation date back to centuries of Moroccan heritage. Hand crafted decor is fashioned from raw terracotta clay mixtures. This clay varies in colors of passionate red paprika spice to vibrant blue of the Mediterranean and every color in between. When incorporated into the decor pieces, it is as if the piece comes to life through color. One of the best places to view Moroccan decor pieces is at the Jardin Majorelle market on Avenue Yacoub el Mansour in Marrakesh. Here many of the pieces are created in the most vibrant blue one has ever seen. The hues of blue present in this decor section captivate ones eyes for hours at a time.

Bring the beauty of Morocco into a home through filigree lanterns or chandeliers. These feature colored glass inserts in vibrant hues of Moroccan reds, yellows and blues. There is more to Moroccan decor than just vibrant colors. Each piece is hand crafted utilizing centuries old techniques that allow for Moroccan heritage to shine through. If you buy in Morocco, you’ll not only get the best deals, but you’ll have the best stories to share.

by Sam Mitchell