One of the largest film festivals in the Middle East and North Africa opened in Morocco on Friday, attracting actors and directors from around the world to showcase 70 films from 32 countries. The Marrakech International Film Festival, now in its 21st edition, will present films competing for the Oscars as well as films aimed at the general public. But unlike the major festivals of Venice, Cannes or Toronto, it places emphasis on emerging directors and films from the Middle East and Africa. Actors and directors participating in this year’s conversations and tributes include Sean Penn, Alfonso Cuaron and David Cronenberg. Rémi Bonhomme, artistic director of the festival, said that what makes the festival unique is its ability to attract talent on par with the world’s biggest festivals, while highlighting the most promising directors from Morocco, the Middle East and Africa. « We pay a lot of attention to countries that are underrepresented in cinema. We support filmmakers who have their own voice, who develop a story in a specific context, whether it’s Iran, Morocco or the United States. But they don’t have to be the voice of their country. They must have the freedom to express their personal vision, » he added. Among the themes covered in this year’s films, Mr. Bonhomme welcomes the presence of family. The filmmakers, including Mohammad Rasoulof, director of “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “explore social and political impact through the scale of a family,” Ms. Bonhomme said. The festival will open Friday with « The Order, » a thriller starring Jude Law and recounting the FBI’s search for the leader of a white supremacist group. The juried competition includes 14 first or second films. The nine-person jury includes actors Jacob Elordi and Andrew Garfield, as well as Ali Abbasi, the Iranian-Danish director of « The Apprentice. » Luca Guadagnino, the Italian-Algerian director of “Queer”, will chair the jury. Among the films in competition are “Across the Sea” by Saïd Hamich, which tells the story of the immigration of a young Moroccan to Marseille, and “Under the Volcano” by Damian Kocur, the Polish film in the running for the Oscar for best international feature film. The festival, founded by the King of Morocco Mohammed VI and chaired by his brother Prince Moulay Rachid, plays a major role in the presentation and promotion of Moroccan films and directors. He has rarely hesitated to tackle diverse subjects and this year he will screen Moroccan films on immigration, homosexuality, bar artists and Moroccan communist Jews.
