Thank you again to everyone for making the Moroccan Film Festival a very special occasion, especially for the Moroccan rural communities HAF seeks to benefit.  About $5,000 was raised for the 1 Million Tree Campaign – which will plant about 10,000 fruit saplings (non-pesticide requiring) in a community-managed tree nursery.  This will create major economic and environmental benefits as the tree mature.

The Sponsors of the Festival were really fantastic: Moroccan National Tourist Office (thank you Chakib Ghadouani), Exotic Imports (thank you Didier Pariente), Western Union, Morocco World News (thank you Samir Bennis), Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels de Marrakech, Ten Bells, Atlas Café and Sigma Phi Epsilon NJ Alpha Chapter.

Thank you to filmmaker Ali Essafi and musicians Hassan Hakmoun and Malika Zarra for making the Director’s dinner so memorable.

Thank you to the dedicated Festival Event Committee – Nora, Houda, Saad and Youssef.

And to Simon Russell, for being so delightful and taking the wonderful photos.  Enjoy them