Moroccan documentary filmmaker, curator, cinematographer, and video artist.

Ali ESSAFI works as a filmmaker, curator, cinematographer, and video artist.
He is one of Morocco's most prolific and awarded documentary filmmakers.
Born in 1963, in Berkane, Morocco. He lives and works between Morocco and Brazil.

Ali Essafi studied Psychology in Tours University (France). His directorial debut titled "General, Here We Come!" ("Général, nous voilà!") (1997), a documentary about Moroccan veterans in the French army, was awarded the Special Jury Award at the Namur Film Festival.

His films include "The Silence of the Beet Fields" ("Le Silence des champs de betteraves", 1998) and "Ouarzazate the Movie" (2001) to cite a couple of titles. He moved back to Morocco in 2002 and worked as an advisor to the Moroccan public television channel for three years.

This person was part of Sharjah Biennial 10 (United Arab Emirates)

Born in 1963 in Fez, Morocco. He completed a degree in Psychology in France, where he began working as an assistant director on numerous documentary and feature films from 1991. In 1997, he made his first film, Général, nous voilà!. He returned to Morocco in 2002, and was the artistic director for Moroccan television (SNRT) from 2006 until 2009. Ali Essafi works as a filmmaker, curator, cinematographer, and video artist.

Filmography
1997 /// Général, nous voilà!; 60 min.
1998 /// Le Silence des champs de betteraves; 54 min.
1999 Paris /// mois par mois; 26 min.
2001 /// Ouarzazate; 55 min.
2002 /// Al Jazira, les Arabes de 1424!; 66 min.
2004 /// Le Blues des Shikhates; 57 min. 2011 Fuite!; 29 min.
2015 /// Le Cosmonaute; 80 min. ·
2017 /// Obour al bab assabea (Crossing the Seventh Gate)
2020 /// Nos sombres années 70 (Au déclin du jour); 75 min.

Source:
* http://sharjahart.org/sharjah-art-foundation/people/essafi-ali
* www.cinemeteque.com/film/al-bab-al-sabea-la-septieme-porte/
* www.berlinale.de/en/archive/jahresarchive/2017/02_programm_2017/02_filmdatenblatt_2017_201703123.html (Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017)