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Adventures of a Transnational African Distributor: An Interview with Izza Génini

The Moroccan-Jewish filmmaker Izza Génini is probably best known as the director of a critically-acclaimed series of eleven documentaries on Moroccan music, Maroc: corps et âme (1987-1992). What is perhaps less well known is her key role in the 1970s and 1980s as a gatekeeper for Moroccan and African cinema in terms of distribution and production. In 1973, Génini set up her own distribution company SOGEAV, which specialized in distributing films in francophone Africa, as well as in the international distribution of African films. In October 2017, Izza Génini was a guest at the Africa in Motion festival (AiM) Edinburgh, for a screening of Aïta (Génini 1987) and Transes (El Maanouni 1981), which she produced. Whilst at the festival, Génini also participated in a workshop on Moroccan documentaries and music, hosted by the AHRC-funded Transnational Moroccan Cinema research project. During her time at the AiM festival, members of the Transnational Moroccan Cinema research team took the opportunity to interview Génini about her career as a director, producer, and distributor. What follows is an edited transcription of sections of that extended interview, 1 focusing specifically on Génini’s role as a producer and distributor, as well as a key figure in promoting African cinema on the