Our Deputy Editor reflects on this year’s edition of Marrakech Film Festival.
And so it ends. Marrakech Film Festival, the last festival of the year to drum up global commotion announced its victors on Saturday evening, during a glitzy ceremony in the Palais. Here are the takeaways: Palestinian film Happy Holidays took the coveted Étoile d’Or. Scandar Copti’s work is prescient, has no easy answers, and features a non-professional cast, and so it is little wonder Luca Guadagnino’s diverse band of jury members gave it the big award. On the other hand, the Jury Prize was shared by Somalian filmmaker Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise (moving and tender — one to check out) and Silvina Schnicer’s The Cottage (a surprise as I found it unremarkable, as did much of the audience and press). Damian Kocur absolutely deserved the award for Best Director, for his work with Under the Volcano. Best Performance by an Actress was shared by Wafaa Aoun and Manar Sheehan for Happy Holidays—well deserved. The male award was for Roman Lutskyi in Kocur’s film.
So those are the important ones, and hopefully you add them to your watchlist. As for the festival as a whole, Melita Toscan du Plantier and HRH Prince Moulay Rachid have overshadowed the spectacle of previous editions and it’s likely next year will be even more extravagant and starry.
Andrew Garfield, Nabil Ayouch and Patricia Arquette interviews will be up soon on A Rabbit’s Foot. Luca Guadagnino was also interviewed by a Moroccan correspondent (keep an eye out). As for the experience in itself, I was requested to discuss it on Moroccan television on Saturday afternoon. There’s always a feeling of local curiosity in how foreign press enjoy the festival. When the reporter asked for my favourite moment, I replied that I especially loved visiting the Cinema Colisée this year, in the downtown area of Gueliz and far from the glamour of the Palais, the red carpet and Jacob Elordi’s beard. It is one of those temples to cinema: wooden doors, high ceilings, red velvet from top to toe, and an ancient kiosk for tickets that you can imagine as far back as the vintage movie posters that decorate its walls. There, too, were many of the younger Moroccans who gathered with their tote bags and trendy outfits to come together as a community and enjoy works like The Seed of the Sacred Fig and Andrea Arnold’s Bird. I loved that place. This is what international cinema-going is all about. After the film, they would all gather opposite the road at the restaurant La Taverne to debate and discuss.
Nabil Ayouch, in conversation, said something touching about Everybody Loves Touda during our interview (one of the best received movies all week): “This film is for Moroccans. I hope they see it as a part of themselves and not just my work.” That goes for the organisers of the festival, too, who continue to host an event that the Marrakchi and Moroccans in general, enjoying from their homes in Casablanca or Fès, can be quite proud of. On to the 22nd edition.
