The 20th Session of the Marrakesh Film Festival: A Royal Dinner and Celebration

A royal dinner and celebration of the twentieth session on the second day of the Marrakesh Film Festival

On the second day of its session, the Marrakesh International Film Festival celebrated its twentieth session, recalling the anniversary of its launch in 2001, with a courageous and visionary initiative that constituted an event in the history of Moroccan cinema at that time. Among its most prominent goals was the advancement of good cinematic works and contributing to raising the artistic level of world cinema. Developing this industry in Morocco, while promoting the image of this country throughout the world.

From the dinner party held by King Mohammed VI and chaired by Prince Moulay Rachid (MAP)

Prince Moulay Rachid, President of the Festival Foundation, chaired a dinner party held by King Mohammed VI, on the occasion of the official opening of the session, which was marked by the presentation of the jury of the festival’s official competition to Prince Moulay Rachid, along with the international stars present at this event and foreign and national partners.

In its current session, which continues until December 2, the festival proposes a selection of international cinema films, including 75 films from 36 countries, programmed in the “Official Competition,” “Celebratory Screenings,” and “Special Screenings” sections. “, “The Eleventh Continent”, “Panorama of Moroccan Cinema”, “Film screenings for emerging audiences”, in addition to films presented within the framework of “Honorations”…

Faisal Al-Araishi, Tilda Swinton, Jessica Chastain, Isabelle Huppert, and Melita Toscan de Plantier (EP)

Festival history

The celebration of the festival reaching its twentieth session, which was hosted by the Ministers’ Hall at the Palais des Congrès, in the presence of a number of the most prominent Moroccan and international cinema stars, witnessed the delivery of two speeches by Melita Toscan du Plantier, Advisor to the President of the Festival Foundation, and Faisal Laaraichi, Vice President Managing Director of the Festival Foundation, and a tape of the film was also shown. A 23-minute work by Moroccan director Hakim Belabbes, which documents the most prominent moments that characterized the previous 19 editions of the festival, especially those related to the will that was behind the launch of this major artistic event, the paragraphs he kept proposing, and the celebrities who, with their presence and friendship, gave him international respect and radiance, from Francis Faure Coppola, Oliver Stone, Isabelle Adjani, Amitabh Bachchan, Yash Chopra, Sean Connery, Leonardo DiCaprio, Alain Delon, Youssef Chahine, through Sigourney Weaver, Susan Sarandon, Forest Whitaker, Christopher Walken, Saïd Taghmaoui, David Lynch, Sharon Stone, and Kiyoshi Kirosawa, Harvey Keitel, Amir Khan, all the way to Nour El Sharif, Martin Scorsese, Adel Imam, Robert De Niro, Mohammed El Bastawi, Isabelle Huppert, James Gray, Abbas Kiarostami, and others. They were all here, in Marrakesh, where they spread their magic and exchanged cordiality and greetings with the festival audience. They also gave the demonstration a lot of accumulation and artistic value.

The minutes of the documentary showed, through all those faces that participated in the activities of its previous 19 sessions, that the Moroccan festival made a significant history for itself and put it on the map of major international cinematic events. It was also able to touch on many of the declared goals, upon its launch, after it knew how to position itself. His own identity, through wonderful parties.

Melitta Toscan du Plantier and actor Mads Mikkelsen on the red carpet (EPA)

In her speech, Du Plantier said that the festival’s continuation of its activities was due to the will of King Mohammed VI, who aspired to hold a major international festival in Marrakesh. She spoke about the trust placed by the King of Morocco in her husband, the late French film producer, Daniel Toscan de Bluntier, to design the first edition of the festival. She also recalled preserving the festival after the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001. She thanked Prince Moulay Rachid for his confidence, creativity, and constant support for the festival.

Du Plantier spoke about previous editions, during which the festival welcomed the biggest names in world cinema, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Isabelle Huppert, David Lynch, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton. She said that the festival aims, through its official competition, to discover new talents. She also stopped at the accumulation recorded at the level of the paragraphs that characterize the Marrakesh Festival, such as the paragraphs “Dialogue with…”, “Honorations,” and “Atlas Workshops,” while talking about the support and promotion that the festival provided to Moroccan cinema.

Faisal Al-Araishi, Managing Vice President of the Festival Foundation, delivers a speech during the twentieth session ceremony (EPA)

For his part, Al-Araishi said that the festival, which was held against the backdrop of the charming landscape of Marrakesh, was not only a celebration of films, but was also a forum during which cinema legends shared their art, experience, and what inspires them. He added: “As we review the memories of the festival, we remember the passage of extraordinary talents on the red carpet. These artists not only entertained us, but also challenged, inspired and changed the course of cinema through their pioneering works.”

Laaraichi stressed that the festival had the honor of hosting Oscar winners and other film industry pioneers and artists whose presence in Marrakesh was not only a moment of celebration, but also a source of inspiration for countless aspiring artists who adore them. He stressed that these cinematic figures “showed us, through their work and presence at the festival, how cinema transcends language, culture and geography, and reinforced the idea that film is a universal language capable of uniting people from different geographies in a common human experience. Their guidance planted the seeds of the future of cinema, ensuring the continuity of The development and prosperity of this art form.”

Interview with Wickelsen

The second day’s programme, within the “Dialogue with…” segment, witnessed the programming of an interview with the Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, one of the contemporary actors who excelled in performing his roles in the most prominent Hollywood films and European auteur cinema.

During the dialogue session, Mikkelsen, who was honored at the opening of the current session of the festival, spoke about the city of Marrakesh, where he met a number of famous artistic figures who have inspired him since his childhood, especially the American director Martin Scorsese, the American actor Robert De Niro, and the American actor William Dafoe.

Dialogue segment with Mads Mikkelsen (EPA)

Mikkelsen touched on his tendency to take on complex and provocative roles. In the context of restoring his artistic path and the characters that marked his artistic experience, he returned to talking about the movie “Taxi Driver,” by Scorsese, starring De Niro, the actor who he said motivated him to perform complex roles and break out of the stereotype and shell of provocative and evil roles.

Mikkelsen talked about his beginnings, pointing out that acting was not a dream for him, and that when he was young, he watched the films of Charlie Chaplin, whom he described as a genius. He continued by expressing his happiness, today, at belonging to the world of art.

Mikkelsen expanded on the criteria that he uses on a personal level when choosing the works in which he participates, and he summarized them in the value of the scenario, the nature of the director, and the personality he embodies at the level of the artistic work, indicating that he rejected works because he was not convinced by the scenario and the director.

Emerging audience

As part of its bet on bringing the seventh art closer to the emerging audience, the festival received 740 children from the Al Haouz province, the region most affected by the natural disaster that Morocco witnessed on the night of September 8-9 last year.

This initiative enabled the children of Al Haouz to discover the magic of cinema and spend moments of artistic enjoyment, during which they watched the images of the Japanese film “The Secret World of Arrietty” by its director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, which celebrates friendship, through the story of Arrietty, the little girl who lives in a suburb of Tokyo, under the floor of an old house. It is located in the middle of a large garden, in secrecy with her family members who live from petty theft. In this family environment, the little girl knows well the rules of living in the place. However, when baby Shaw arrives home for a break, before a dangerous surgery, Arrietty feels like everything will be completely different.

Director Lina Sawalem (EPA)

Racing movies

Screening of the films “Picnic” (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, France, Norway, and Qatar, 2023), by its Bosnian director, Una Konjac, and “Bye Bye Tiberias” (Palestine, France, Belgium, and Qatar/Documentary, 2023), by its French-Algerian director. – Palestinian Lina Sawalem, the competition race to win the festival’s five prizes has begun.

The Marrakesh Festival is distinguished by its official competition dedicated to the first and second feature films of its directors, which aims to uncover new talents in international cinema. Among the 14 films selected for this year’s competition, 10 films were the first films by their directors, and 8 films were signed by female film directors.

The events of the movie “Picnic” revolve in the city of Sarajevo, around a girl named Iman, a teenager who fakes that she is pregnant, and becomes the focus of an argument that has taken on dimensions that can no longer be controlled.

Palestinian actress and director Hiam Abbas and French-Algerian director Lina Soualem (AFP)

While the movie “Bye Bye Tiberias” deals with the story of Hiam Abbas, who left her village in order to achieve her dream of becoming an actress, leaving behind her mother, grandmother, and seven sisters. After 30 years, her daughter Lina imagines her return to places that disappeared among the scattered memories of four generations of bold Palestinian women.