icflix to Co-Produce Film with Moroccan Director

DUBAI: Online streaming service icflix has teamed up with Moroccan director Noureddine Lakhmari to co-produce the upcoming film Burn Out.

The film is set to debut next year exclusively to icflix subscribers globally, as well as in select theaters worldwide. Written and directed by Lakhmari, Burn Out is set in Casablanca and follows three main characters from different social backgrounds. One is a rich man who drives a Maserati through the streets of Casablanca, another is a 13-year-old boy who shines shoes to try to earn enough money to pay for a foot prosthesis for his mother, and the last is a young woman who is a student by day and a call girl by night. This project marks the first of many cinematic productions planned for Morocco.

“icflix is an opportunity for us artists in Morocco and the Arab world, because not only do we have a free platform where we can show and express our art and creativity, but also it will allow us to grow and exist in the market,” said Lakhmari. “Usually it was state TVs and French distributors who were making the rules, now icflix will democratize the whole game and I am happy for that. I’m also happy that many talented filmmakers from our countries will get much more attention.”

“Burn Out will be icflix ‘s first co-production from Morocco and is a powerful story set in the rich and poor zones of the country’s largest metropolis, Casablanca,” said Carlos Tibi, co-founder and CEO of icflix. “We are delighted to be working with an award-winning director and are certain the movie will achieve great success globally.”

The streaming service is premiering Dunia, its first original Arabic animation production for kids, this December.