Franco-Moroccan Filmmaker Wins César for Best Short Film at 46th Academy Awards

Before winning this award at the 46th César ceremony organized at the Olympia, by the Academy of Cinema Arts and Techniques, "Qu’importe si les bêtes meurent" participated in several other competitions. It was the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (February 2020), the Tangier National Film Festival (February-March 2020), the São Paulo International Short Film Festival (August 2020) and the Namur International Francophone Film Festival (October 2020). It also won the Grand Jury Prize in the international competition at the Sundance Festival in the United States (January-February 2020).

Nominated by the Academy of Oscars, this 2019 film will also compete for the 2021 Oscar for best short film next April. It tells in the Amazigh language the story of Abdellah, a young shepherd and his father, who helplessly witness the death of their animals in the high mountains of the Atlas. With his mule, Abdellah has to supply food in a trading village more than a day’s walk away. On his arrival, he discovers that it has been deserted because of a curious event that has upset all the believers.