Nour-Eddine Sail, deputy vice-president of the Marrakesh International Film Festival (2-10 December), said that cinema represented a distinctive road to freedom and creativity, adding that the governments of the world together could not stand against any artistic work that discusses important issues.

Sail went on to stress that there was no fear of Islamist rule, pointing out that Moroccan cinema was in a constant state of advancement and was second only to Egypt in the Arab world in terms of artistic freedom and creativity.

He asserted that the Islamic forces that have taken power during the recent wave of Arab revolutions would not affect the freedom of expression in cinema, adding that governments would come and go but that art and artists would remain.