One forum. Twenty partners. A campus in Dakhla. ISMAC is thinking big. Twenty-plus agreements, a new campus in Dakhla, and a foreign student quota raised to 25% — Morocco’s audiovisual and cinema institute used its first Partners Forum to lay the foundations of something much bigger than a school.
Twenty institutions signed on Wednesday. Then came the announcement of a campus in Dakhla. Then a decree raising the foreign student quota to 25%. Taken together, the first Partners Forum of Morocco’s Institut supérieur des métiers de l’audiovisuel et du cinéma — ISMAC — looked less like a signing ceremony and more like the blueprint for a continental audiovisual hub. The forum was held in Rabat under the theme “From Image to the Virtual World: Building the Foundations of Lasting Partnerships”, with agreements signed by ISMAC Director Abdessamad Moutei with representatives of universities, grandes écoles, specialised institutes, civil society organisations, and professional bodies from Morocco and abroad.
Moutei said the agreements with more than twenty partner institutions will contribute to capacity development in the relevant sectors through the delivery of concrete projects and programmes. He also highlighted that the Forum comes at a moment of strategic transformation for the institute, marked by the recent adoption by the Council of Government of Decree No. 2.26.385, which amends and completes the text governing the creation and organisation of ISMAC.
The reform raised to 25% the share reserved for the admission of foreign students — reflecting a clear orientation toward strengthening the attractiveness of the training system and opening new perspectives for cultural and academic exchange. — ISMAC Director Abdessamad Moutii
Dakhla and the African dimension
The Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, whose address was read on his behalf, underlined the importance of the partnership agreements as a reflection of a shared will to strengthen cooperation, exchange expertise, and broaden training, research, and innovation prospects between institutions from Morocco and abroad.
The minister also announced the creation of a regional ISMAC campus in Dakhla — bringing specialised training closer to young talent in the southern provinces of the Kingdom and opening new opportunities for young people from the African continent wishing to benefit from this training, in line with the Royal vision to promote South-South cooperation and consolidate Morocco’s African dimension.
Workshops and what comes next
Alongside the signing ceremony, ISMAC organised participatory workshops designed to facilitate the sharing of experience, structure cooperation, and monitor results — notably through examining ways to develop training programmes, adapt them to market needs, strengthen scientific research and innovation, and promote the exchange of technical and production expertise.
The institute noted that the success of challenges linked to cultural and creative industries depends on the mobilisation of all actors, institutions, and partners, as well as continuous investment in training, innovation, and adaptation to the rapid changes the world is experiencing.