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