Issni N’ourgh, or "Golden Crown", is an Amazigh film festival that originated in the city of Agadir. Over the years, it has gained popularity, and Amazigh films, which once had a limited audience among the Amazigh community, are now screened in renowned festivals worldwide.

For this year's edition, the festival focuses on global diversity and has launched an international competition open to all filmmakers around the world. The selected films will be screened during the festival and evaluated by a jury of film professionals.

This year's programming will showcase films that reflect the diversity of world cultures while highlighting the challenges these cultures face in the modern world. The selected films will explore themes such as migration, globalization, environmental preservation, and the promotion of peace and tolerance.

The Issni N’ourgh, or FINIFA, aims to become a major event in the global film scene and promote Amazigh culture worldwide. By celebrating cultural diversity and universal values and encouraging dialogue, it contributes to building a more open and tolerant world.

The FINIFA awards several prizes, including Best Female and Male Performance, Best Screenplay, Best Directing, the Yehia Idder Award for Best Short Film, and the Grand FINIFA Prize.

The Best Female and Male Performance awards are given to the actors who deliver outstanding performances in a leading or supporting role. The winners are selected by a jury of film professionals based on the quality of their performance and their ability to bring the characters to life.

The Best Screenplay award recognizes outstanding achievement in screenwriting. The winner is selected by a jury of experts who evaluate the quality of the script, including its structure, dialogue, and character development.

The Best Directing award is given to the director who shows exceptional skill in guiding the film's creative vision. The winner is chosen based on the director's ability to bring the story to life and create a cohesive and engaging cinematic experience.

The Yehia Idder Award for Best Short Film is named after the renowned Amazigh filmmaker and is given to the director of the best short film. The winner is selected by a jury of experts based on the quality of the film, including its cinematography, editing, and storytelling.

Finally, the Grand FINIFA Prize is the festival's most prestigious award and is given to the best film overall. The winner is chosen by a jury of film professionals who evaluate the quality of the film's direction, screenplay, performances, and overall impact.

Rules & Terms
Regulations of the Festival Issni N’ourgh International du Film Amazighe- FINIFA-

Nomination:
FINIFA - Festival Issni N’ourgh International du Film Amazighe –
Issni N’ourgh

Presentation:
Issni N’ourgh, or "Golden crown," is an Amazigh film festival that originated in the city of Agadir. It has gained popularity over the years, and Amazigh films, which once had a limited audience among the Amazigh community, are now being screened at renowned festivals worldwide.
For this edition, the festival focuses on global diversity and has launched an international competition open to all filmmakers worldwide. Selected films will be screened during the festival and judged by a jury composed of cinema professionals.
This year's program will showcase films that reflect the diversity of global cultures while highlighting the challenges these cultures face in the modern world. Selected films will explore themes such as migration, globalization, environmental preservation, and the promotion of peace and tolerance.
The Issni N’ourgh or FINIFA aims to become a major event in the global cinematic scene and to promote Amazigh culture worldwide. By celebrating cultural diversity and universal values and encouraging dialogue, it contributes to building a more open and tolerant world.

Objectives:
The Issni N’ourgh Amazigh Film Festival aims primarily to promote cultural exchange among different communities through selected films, highlighting the richness and diversity of cultures worldwide. It also encourages international cooperation among directors, producers, and actors to develop joint projects that transcend borders and language barriers.
The festival promotes dialogue and mutual understanding by exploring universal themes such as love, family, war and peace, social justice, etc. Selected films raise awareness among audiences about social, political, and environmental issues, prompting reflection and action.
The goal is also to create a movement of artistic competition among production houses to professionalize the Amazigh film sector and encourage various stakeholders in the national audiovisual sector to further support Amazigh film production.
The festival encourages the creation of bridges between different film genres (documentary, fiction, animation, experimental, etc.) to broaden perspectives and creative possibilities and showcases the global cinematic heritage by screening classic films and organizing retrospectives to better understand the evolution of this art form and its impact on society.
Finally, the festival seeks to modernize the Moroccan Amazigh film sector, bring Amazigh cinematic products closer to the global audience, provide constructive critical support to steer cinema towards more beneficial professionalism, spur investment in major productions to promote the image of Moroccan cinema nationally and internationally, and foster collaboration among actors and technicians operating in Amazigh expression cinema to improve their situation and productivity.
The Amazigh competition of the festival is open to all producers and directors who have created a film in the Amazigh language, subtitled in French or English. Only fiction films and documentaries, whether long or short, will be accepted in the festival's official competition. Directors may submit multiple works to the festival, but only one will be admitted to the official competition. Other productions may be screened out of competition. As for the international competition, it is also open to all producers and directors who have created a film in their original language, subtitled in French or English. Only fiction films and documentaries, whether long or short, will be accepted in the international competition of the festival. Directors may also submit multiple works for this competition, but only one will be admitted to the official competition. Other productions may be screened out of competition.

Film Submission:
• Submitting films to FINIFA obligatorily entails making the screening rights available to the FINIFA - Festival Issni N’ourgh International du Film Amazighe.
• For the international competition, film submissions are made online on the platform announced by the festival.
• For the Amazigh competition, film submissions are made via the registration form provided by the festival.
• Registration will be definitively approved upon receipt of the signed form with all film elements, including a high-quality copy or in other formats, the synopsis, director and film photos, and the film poster in high quality, along with the distribution agreement signed by the producer or director for obtaining the cultural visa from the Moroccan Cinematographic Center.
• Confirmation of receipt of submitted films will be sent to the sender via email.
• All shipping charges for films and registration forms will be borne by the sender.
• The deadline for submission and sending of film elements and director information is set for Jun 30, 2025. For both official competitions, the selection committee will review all submitted films and will be solely authorized to accept or reject any film proposed for the festival.
• Film selection notifications will be communicated via email no later than August 2025.
• Selected films must be sent to the festival's email before June 13, 2025, and must be verified by the sender before shipment to avoid any anomalies or damage that may occur during scanning.
• The festival does not cover the reshipment costs of copies of selected and non-selected films.
• The FINIFA organizing committee appoints a jury consisting of at least three members from artistic, cultural, social, and media domains.
• The prizes to be awarded to the winners of the 16th edition of FINIFA are under negotiation and will be announced on the official festival page as soon as possible.
• In case of dispute, if no amicable settlement can be reached, only the courts of Agadir will have exclusive jurisdiction to resolve the dispute.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Nicola Melissian

    Thanky you so much from the bottom of my heart, that we could be a part of the festival and that we won a price for best szenario for our documentary reEarth ...Rights of Nature. ) The festival is wonderful, shows just super films ♥ and is super organised. Merciiiiiii ♥♥♥

    September 2024
  • Rahma Benhamou El Madani

    my film win the price the best documentary. It was so fantastic !

    January 2024
  • How to start about Finifa ... between all the subjects of excellency.
    First thanks to Rachid and Rachid, the two amazing directors of this amazing festival.
    1 - the film selection was excellent and super rich, focused on several social and patrimonial themes, giving visibility to young directors, opening its selection to not only amazigh related films but also international ones
    2 - the quality and warmess of the welcoming. We have been considered as VIPs, the hotel, the restaurants, available drivers, and the marvelous Amal, who has been a real mother for all the attendees. Thanks a lot for this amazing consideration.
    3 - the quality of the audience. Considering the thematic of some films, like political, social, religious, love, gender questions, aids,, alcoolism, ... i was affraid some of the audience would be incomfortable and would leave the movie theatre. In contrary, the audience was really into all the films and the Q/A after the screenings was very high level and interesting, not avoiding any sensitive question.
    4 - the festival offered to the participants many time and occasion to network between directors, and attendees. It's not always the case, and at Finifa, it was really well done.
    5 - the quality of the masterclass during the Off of the festival. I recommend to everyone to watch them, as they are available on the Finifa Facebook page
    6 - the quality of the jury, and especially the Amazigh category one, directed by Laura Cazador. I never experienced such a respectfull way, such dedication, to juge films. Not only they discuss a lot, but they prepared a little speach to introduce each winner film, with a full translation in Tifinagh language. And each speach was detailing all the aspects that drove them to award the movie for. It was so amazingly respectull and caring. It moves me a lot.
    7 - Being awarded. It has been a pleasure and a pride. Even being selected was already an award. But aditionaly, the festival offered me the gift to select my fill in the Amazigh selection, even if I'm french. And discovering the quality of the selection, I felt really proud to be part of this festival. Thanks a lot Agadir for this adoption. Charaf lia !

    December 2023