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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Saïd Hamich Benlarbi
fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Scandar Copti
fiche film] (Palestine/Germany/France/Italy/Qatar), Neo Sora's Happyend (Japan/USA), Laura Piani's Jane Austen Wrecked My Life [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Turkey), Muhammed Hamdy's Perfumed with Mint [+lire aussi :
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interview : Muhammed Hamdy
fiche film] (Egypt/Qatar/Tunisia/France), Dania Reymond-Boughenou's Silent Storms [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (France/Belgium, international premiere), Hind Meddeb's Sudan, Remember Us [+lire aussi :
interview : Hind Meddeb
fiche film] (France/Tunisia/Qatar), Damian Kocur's Under the Volcano [+lire aussi :
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interview : Damian Kocur
fiche film] (Poland), Mo Harawe's The Village Next to Paradise [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Austria/France/Germany/Somalia) and Gabrielle Brady’s The Wolves Always Come at Night [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mohammad Rasoulof
fiche film] (Germany/France/Iran) as well as Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (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 [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Payal Kapadia (France/India/Netherlands/Luxembourg), Bird [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Andrea Arnold (UK), Conclave [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Edward Berger (USA/UK), On Becoming a Guinea Fowl [+lire aussi :
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interview : Rungano Nyoni et Susan Cha…
fiche film] by Rungano Nyoni (Zambia/UK), To a Land Unknown [+lire aussi :
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interview : Mahdi Fleifel
fiche film] by Mahdi Fleifel (UK/Palestine/France/Greece/Netherlands/Germany/Qatar/Saudi Arabia) and Who Do I Belong To [+lire aussi :
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interview : Meryam Joobeur
fiche film] by Meryam Joobeur (Tunisia/France/Canada). Fanon 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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marta Donzelli et Gregorio…
interview : Miguel Gomes
fiche film] by Miguel Gomes (Portugal/Italy/France), The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] 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 [+lire aussi :
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interview : Jawad Rhalib
fiche film] (Belgium/Morocco, international premiere) and Samira El Mouzghibati’s (Y)our Mother [+lire aussi :
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interview : Samira El Mouzghibati
fiche film] (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.