The 18th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival is a showcase of the diversity and creativity of world cinema. Across a wide range of sections, no fewer than 98 movies from 34 countries will be screened.
The Official Competition remains faithful to the Festival’s determination to screen first or second feature-length movies to reveal and promote new talent in international cinema.
The 14 films in competition for the Étoile d’Or de Marrakech all bear witness to an astonishing sense of style and depth of thought, daring to explore new territories and establish personal and very original approaches to cinematographic creation.
The Competition also represents an eclectic selection that showcases multiple cinematographic universes from different parts of the world, with three European films from the UK, Italy, and Serbia; two films from Latin America, hailing from Brazil and Colombia; one US film; another from Australia; three Asian films from China, India, and South Korea; and four films from the Middle East and Africa, from Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Senegal. Of the 14 films in competition, five are by women directors.
The Festival opens with a major US thriller, Knives Out. Directed by Rian Johnson, it offers a contemporary and comic approach to the murder-mystery genre.
The Gala Screenings section presents screenings of films by respected filmmakers, including Marriage Story by Noah Baumbach (USA), The Irishman by Martin Scorsese (USA), and It Must Be Heaven by Elia Suleiman (Palestine). Three wonderful first films complete the Gala Screenings for this edition. Noura’s Dream from Hinde Boujemaa (Tunisia, Belgium, France) stars Hend Sabri in the lead role, and Adam from Maryam Touzani (Morocco) features Lubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi. The Festival closes with a screening of Ras El Sana by Sakr (Egypt), featuring an impressive cast of the new generation of Egyptian stars.
The nation of honour for this 18th edition, Australia will have a strong cinematic presence in Marrakech this year, with no fewer than 25 films from auteur works to classics and popular hits, screening in different locations across the city.
True to the Festival’s tradition of being open to the rest of the world, the Special Screenings section presents a wide range of films from different horizons. A total of 10 films from the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Italy, Mexico, Tunisia, South Africa, France, and Sudan are featured.
Moroccan cinema is once again showcased this year. In addition to films in the Official Competition and Gala Screenings sections, the Moroccan Panorama presents a selection of four films that reveal different aspects of Moroccan cinema to international industry professionals and media at the Festival. In total, 11 Moroccan films will be screened across the Festival’s different sections.
In order to introduce children to the magic of cinema, the Festival continues its Cinema for Young Audiences programme with five diverse feature-length films from Estonia, France, Egypt, Japan, and Sweden.
An annual high point of the Festival’s public program is its open-air screenings on Jemaa El Fna. As is the case every year, this legendary square in Marrakech hosts a series of screenings of crowd-pleasers from India, Morocco, Egypt, the USA, and elsewhere.
Faithful to its societal commitments, the Festival also hosts five screenings for the blind and partially sighted audiences, continuing a tradition for this major film-related event. Audio-described screenings allow these audiences to enjoy a selection of films programmed specifically for them.
Finally, tribute is paid to some of the great names in cinema. Screenings of some of their key works will be shown at the Colisée cinema, in the two screening rooms at the Palais des Congrès and at Jemaa El Fna.
