07/11/2024 - This year's festival, bringing together widely acclaimed films and breakout works, is identifiable by its rich set of transnational co-productions

The 21st Marrakech International Film Festival, which will unspool from 29 November-7 December, has just announced the 70 films from 32 countries that will screen across the component sections of the Moroccan event. Twelve of these works were supported by the festival’s industry programme, the Atlas Workshops, an initiative launched in 2018.

The festival also revealed its jury, with Italian director Luca Guadagnino as president, taking over from previous appointee Thomas Vinterberg. The jury is completed by Iranian director Ali Abbasi, Indian helmer Zoya Akhtar, US actor Patricia Arquette, Belgian thesp Virginie Efira, Australian actor Jacob Elordi, British-US actor Andrew Garfield, Moroccan thesp Nadia Kounda and Argentinian director Santiago Mitre.

The Official Competition, composed of debut or sophomore films, features 14 titles vying for the Étoile d’Or, 12 of which are European productions or co-productions. The selection includes Saïd Hamich Benlarbi’s Across the Sea [+see also:
film review
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interview: Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
film profile] (France/Morocco/Belgium), Huo Xin’s Bound in Heaven (China), Silvina Schnicer's The Cottage (Argentina/Brazil/Spain/Chile, international premiere), Scandar Copti’s Happy Holidays [+see also:
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interview: Scandar Copti
film profile] (Palestine/Germany/France/Italy/Qatar), Neo Sora's Happyend (Japan/USA), Laura Piani's Jane Austen Wrecked My Life [+see also:
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film profile] (France), The Maw Naing's Ma–Cry of Silence (Myanmar/Singapore/France/Norway/South Korea/Qatar), Murat Firatoǧlu's One of Those Days When Hemme Dies [+see also:
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film profile] (Turkey), Muhammed Hamdy's Perfumed with Mint [+see also:
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interview: Muhammed Hamdy
film profile] (Egypt/Qatar/Tunisia/France), Dania Reymond-Boughenou's Silent Storms [+see also:
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interview: Dania Reymond-Boughenou
film profile] (France/Belgium, international premiere), Hind Meddeb's Sudan, Remember Us [+see also:
interview: Hind Meddeb
film profile] (France/Tunisia/Qatar), Damian Kocur's Under the Volcano [+see also:
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interview: Damian Kocur
film profile] (Poland), Mo Harawe's The Village Next to Paradise [+see also:
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film profile] (Austria/France/Germany/Somalia) and Gabrielle Brady’s The Wolves Always Come at Night [+see also:
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film profile] (Australia/Mongolia/Germany).

The gathering will kick off with Justin Kurzel’s crime-thriller The Order (Canada), toplined by Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. The film will be presented as part of the Gala Screenings section, which consists of seven works in total. Kurzel returns to the festival as a former jury member, also having secured the event’s Jury Prize (second prize) in 2011 for his first film, Snowtown. The Gala Screenings section also boasts Mohammad Rasoulof’s critical darling and Germany’s Oscars submission The Seed of the Sacred Fig [+see also:
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interview: Directors Talks @ European …
interview: Mohammad Rasoulof
film profile] (Germany/France/Iran) as well as Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here [+see also:
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film profile] (Brazil/France), Brazil’s Oscars hopeful.

The Special Screenings selection will comprise 15 films, many of which have already been acclaimed at other festivals. These include the Cannes Grand Prix winner All We Imagine as Light [+see also:
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film profile] by Payal Kapadia (France/India/Netherlands/Luxembourg), Bird [+see also:
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film profile] by Andrea Arnold (UK), Conclave [+see also:
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interview: Red Carpet @ European Film …
film profile] by Edward Berger (USA/UK), On Becoming a Guinea Fowl [+see also:
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interview: Rungano Nyoni, Susan Chardy
film profile] by Rungano Nyoni (Zambia/UK), To a Land Unknown [+see also:
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interview: Mahdi Fleifel
film profile] by Mahdi Fleifel (UK/Palestine/France/Greece/Netherlands/Germany/Qatar/Saudi Arabia) and Who Do I Belong To [+see also:
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interview: Meryam Joobeur
film profile] by Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia/France/Canada). Fanon [+see also:
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interview: Jean-Claude Barny, Alexandr…
film profile] by Jean-Claude Barny (France/Luxembourg/Canada) will also enjoy its world premiere in this strand.

The 11th Continent programme includes 13 innovative films that aim to unsettle representations of territory, including Grand Tour [+see also:
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interview: Marta Donzelli, Gregorio Pa…
interview: Miguel Gomes
film profile] by Miguel Gomes (Portugal/Italy/France), The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+see also:
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film profile] by Inadelso Cossa (Mozambique/France/Germany/Portugal/Netherlands/Norway) and Universal Language by Matthew Rankin (Canada). The Moroccan Panorama strand features five movies, three of which are European co-productions: Simone Bitton’s Les Mille et un Jours du Hajj Edmond (Morocco/France, world premiere), Jawad Rhalib’s Since I Was Born [+see also:
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interview: Jawad Rhalib
film profile] (Belgium/Morocco, international premiere) and Samira El Mouzghibati’s (Y)our Mother [+see also:
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interview: Samira El Mouzghibati
film profile] (Belgium/France). Three tribute programmes to David Cronenberg, Sean Penn and late Moroccan star Naïma Elmcherqui as well as seven films from the Cinema for Young Audiences and Families section round off the selection.