YOUSSEF MICHRAF
Youssef Michraf is a Moroccan director and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. A graduate of the Directing program at La Fémis, he explores how his characters’ emotions and actions are shaped by social and political structures. His films have screened at numerous international festivals. He is currently developing his debut feature, Sweet Disposition, recipient of the ArteKino International Prize.
when
the
night
comes
La Fémis
with
Nadia Kounda
Driss Ramdi
synopsis
Hajar, a young woman, has come to France for a few days with her businessman husband. Feeling uneasy in her marriage, she leaves a dinner and wanders through the streets of Paris.
- 32nd Namur International Film Festival (Belgium)
- Marghreb des films (France)
- 2nd Copper Coast Film Festival (Ireland)
Best film in a foreign language award
Best actress award
- Bethlehem International Film Festival (Palestine)
- 15th Lago Film Festival (Italy)
screenings
omar's apartment
La Fémis
with
Zoubier Aboulfadld
Younes Bouab
Omar’s Apartment follows a young boy spending summer vacation with his mother at his relatives’ home, in Meknes, Morocco. Struggling with bedwetting problem, he must avoid any accident in a place that is not his own. The pressure intensifies as he feels a deep fascination for his uncle, making the fear of shame and exposure even stronger.
synopsis
screenings
- 24th LGBTQ Chéries Chéris International Film Festival (France)
- Bethlehem International Film Festival (Palestine)
- 40th Durban International Film Festival (South Africa)
- 17th Tangier Mediterranean Short Film Festival (Morocco)
finding
oppo
Tessalit Production, La Prod
synopsis
Mamun is different from the other teens in his neighborhood. One night, his father, Mourad, forces him to go after the phone that was stolen from him just hours earlier. To prove he’s like everyone else — especially in his father’s eyes — Mamun is forced to hide what really happened.
- Centre Cinématographique Marocain
- OIF (Fond Images de la Francophonie)
- Doha Film Institute
- Arab Fund for Art and Culture (AFAC)
with the support of
sweet disposition
Recipient of the ArteKino Interntional Prize
Kazak Productions
synopsis
Ali and his friends are suspended from highschool until they show up with their fathers. Deeply ashamed of his own, he wanders through the streets of Casablanca searching for a well-off-looking man who would pretend to be his father and go with him to school.
- Pop Up Film Residency
- Atlas Ateliers, Marrakech International Film Festival
- Torino Film Lab
- Realness Film Institute, African Screenwriters Residency
screewriting labs and residencies
Born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco, Youssef Michraf is a director and screenwriter currently based in Los Angeles. He earned a degree in Film Studies at La Sorbonne before completing the highly selective 4-year Directing program at La Fémis, France’s national film school, graduating in 2018.
Youssef’s work challenges how African and Middle Eastern stories are often framed, resisting simplification in favor of nuanced, emotionally complex perspectives. His films take an intimate and personal approach, where the mundane — in both its banality and its violence— becomes political. With empathy, he portrays imperfect, often unsettling characters to reveal how social structures shape our emotions and actions.
He has participated in the Torino Film Lab, Pop Up Film Residency, and is an alumnus of the Realness Institute’s African Screenwriters Residency in South Africa. His short films have screened internationally, including at the Durban International Film Festivaland the Namur International Francophone Film Festival. He is currently in pre-production on Finding Oppo, a French-Moroccan co-production supported by the Arab Fund for Art and Culture (AFAC), Doha Film Institute, Fonds Image de la Francophonie, and the Moroccan Center of Cinema. His debut feature Sweet Disposition, currently in development, was awarded the ArteKino International Prize at the Atlas Ateliers of the Marrakech International Film Festival.
contact
https://popupfilmresidency.org/project/doha-film-institute-2021-youssef-michraf-sweet-disposition/
https://africultures.com/personnes/?no=9388
https://atlasateliers.marrakech-festival.com/en/selection/2021/sweet-disposition
https://scriptoclap.fr/tiers/youssef-michraf/
https://femis.fr/index.php?page=fiche_ancien&id_ancien=18819
https://mabumbe.com/movies/people/1605335/youssef-nathan-michraf
https://cineuropa.org/es/newsdetail/414058/
https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/414058/#cm
https://cineuropa.org/fr/newsdetail/414058/#cm
https://cineuropa.org/it/newsdetail/414058/#cm
https://www.imagesfrancophones.org/actualites/ateliers-de-l-atlas-asmae-el-moudir-erige-sehiri-et-lemohang-jeremiah-mosese-sortent-du-lot
https://www.welovebuzz.com/ateliers-de-latlas-deux-marocaines-au-palmares/
https://snrtnews.com/fr/article/fifm-qui-sont-les-laureats-des-ateliers-de-latlas-24906
https://lematin.ma/express/2021/fifm-2021-24-projets-films-selectionnes-4e-edition-ateliers-latlas-devoiles/366947.html
https://medias24.com/2021/11/04/festival-du-film-de-marrakech-24-projets-et-films-selectionnes-pour-la-4e-edition-des-ateliers-de-latlas/
https://www.mapexpress.ma/actualite/culture-et-medias/cinema-annonce-laureats-4eme-edition-ateliers-latlas-du-festival-marrakech/
https://projets.arte.tv/sites/default/files/medias/Filiale%20ARTE%20France%20Le%20projet%20ARTE%20Kino.pdf
https://fr.hespress.com/235396-le-fifm-annonce-des-laureats-de-la-4eme-edition-des-ateliers-de-latlas.html?print
https://www.yabiladi.com/investir/details/121481/remi-bonhomme-revient-ateliers-l-atlas.html
https://deadline.com/2025/09/marrakech-restructures-industry-events-atlas-programs-1236502819/
https://thearabweekly.com/arab-african-film-makers-gather-moroccos-atlas-workshops
https://article19.ma/accueil/archives/147464
https://www.dohafilm.com/en/contents/2b3d381c-84b9-4b70-89cb-5ce3387fe2c7
https://deadline.com/2025/01/doha-film-institute-2024-fall-grantees-1236271117/
https://barlamantoday.com/2025/01/30/six-moroccan-films-secure-doha-film-institute-grants-in-fall-2024/
https://www.iloveqatar.net/news/artsCulture/doha-film-institute-hosts-hezayah-screenwriting-lab-for-feature-screenplay-development
https://www.province.namur.be/documents/fichier/3/413/20180131_164428les_films.pdf
https://www.eninarothe.com/movies/2025/1/30/dfis-2024-fall-grants-announcement-includes-new-projects-by-youssef-chebbi-sofia-alaoui-mehdi-hmili-and
https://www.kinopoisk.ru/name/5247471/?utm_referrer=www.google.com
https://www.arabculturefund.org/Projects/7535
https://www.critique-film.fr/cheries-cheris-2018-la-selection-officielle/
https://www.torinofilmlab.it/people/2364412/youssef-michraf
https://popandfilms.fr/festival-cheries-cheris-2018-programmation/
https://letterboxd.com/film/lappartement-domar/
https://www.shortfilmwire.com/en/embedded/film/200079274/Appartement-D_omar
https://en.kinorium.com/1692252/cast/
https://cheries-cheris.com/festival/films/competition-courts-metrages-gay-3/
https://www.ccm.ma/17fcmmt/fch.php?tab=1¶m=1141
https://mabumbe.com/movies/titles/733681/l-appartement-d-omar
https://www.famousfix.com/topic/l-appartement-d-omar
https://www.lesnuitsmediterraneennes.com/wp-content/download/Catalogue-festi-CM-Tanger-Maroc-2019.pdf
https://awotele.jimdoweb.com/2019/07/19/diff-2019-la-s%C3%A9lection-officielle/
https://www.realness.institute/news/six-african-film-talent-announced-for-6th-realness-african-screenwriters-residency
https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/414058/
https://www.arte.tv/sites/olivierpere/2021/11/28/prix-arte-kino-international-pour-le-projet-sweet-disposition-de-youssef-michraf/
https://atlasateliers.marrakech-festival.com/en/selection/2021
https://lematin.ma/express/2021/remi-bonhomme-films-i-marrakchi-asmae-el-moudir-youssef-michraf-palmares-ateliers-latlas/368315.html
https://variety.com/2022/film/global/lamia-chraibi-marrakech-film-festival-1235437840/
https://guardian.ng/sunday-magazine/obasi-others-selected-for-realness-african-screenwriters-residency/#google_vignette
https://www.cinelatino.fr/sites/default/files/lesimages/22_images/kazak_productions_filmographie_verticale_fev20221.pdf
https://amp.medi1news.com/fr/article/234384.html
https://www.mapexpress.ma/actualite/culture-et-medias/fifm-annonce-les-24-projets-films-selectionnes-4e-edition-ateliers-latlas/
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