Marrakech To Open with Richard Linklater’s ‘Hit Man’ As Festival Unveils 2023 Line-Up

Melanie Goodfellow
·4 min read
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The 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival has announced its selection, opening with Richard Linklater’s comedy Hit Man. (scroll down for full list of films)

The event, running from November 24 to December 2, will unfold two months after the devastating earthquake in the nearby Atlas Mountains in September, which killed more than 2,000 people.

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The festival will be one of the few film festivals taking place in the Middle East’s usually packed fall fest circuit, after a number of regional events were cancelled in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict, including the Cairo, El Gouna and Carthage films festivals as well as Qatar’s Ajyal.

The Marrakech management team has decided to push on with the event out of solidarity for the Moroccan people and the city, which suffered very little damage and relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood.

Hit Man will play as part of the festival’s six picture red carpet Gala selection which also includes Matteo Garrone’s Italian Oscar entry Me Captain and Michel Franco’s Memory.

Previously announced high-profile guests due to attend this year include Martin Scorsese, who will act as a mentor to emerging filmmakers attending the industry-focused Atlas Workshops, and Jessica Chastain as president of the jury.

She will be joined by Iranian actress and director Zar Amir, French actress Camille Cottin, Australian actor, director and writer Joel Edgerton, UK director Joanna Hogg, Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård, Moroccan writer Leïla Slimani, U.S. director Dee Rees and Swedish-Egyptian director Tarik Saleh.

The Official Competition, focused on first and second features, will put the spotlight on 14 titles, including Oscar entries, Palestinian director Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias, which won Best Documentary at the London Film Festival last month, and Moroccan filmmaker El Moudir’s Cannes prize winner Mother Of All Lies.

The Special Screenings sidebar will showcase 16 films that have made their mark on the festival circuit this year including Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia and Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Holland’s Venice Jury Prize winning migrant drama Green Border.

Other key sections include the 11th Continent programme, featuring 13 innovative drama and documentary films, the Panorama of Moroccan Cinema, Cinema for Young Audiences, and the popular Jemaa El Fna screenings in Marrakech’s historic landmark square.

FULL LIST OF SELECTED FILMS

OFFICIAL COMPETITION

Banel & Adama
Dir. Ramata-Toulaye Sy

Bye Bye Tiberias
Dir. Lina Soualem

City Of Wind
Dir. ​​Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir

Disco Afrika: a malagasy story
Dir. Luck Razanajaona

Dormitory
Dir. Nehir Tuna

Excursion
Dir. Una Gunjak

Hounds
Dir. Kamal Lazraq

The Mother Of All lies
Dir. Asmae El Moudir

The Other Son
Dir. Juan Sebastián Quebrada

Phantom Youth
Dir. Luàna Bajrami

Prison In The Andes
Dir. Felipe Carmona

Silent Roar
Dir. Johnny Barrington

Toll
Dir. Carolina Markowicz

Tuesday
Dir. Daina O. Pusič

GALA SCREENINGS

Deserts
Dir. Faouzi Bensaïdi

Hit Man
Dir. Richard Linklater

The Holdovers
Dir. Alexander Payne

Limbo
Dir. Ivan Sen / Australia

Making of
Dir. Cédric Kahn

Me Captain
Dir. Matteo Garrone

Memory
Dir. Michel Franco

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

About Dried Grasses
Dir. Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Animalia
Dir. Sofia Alaoui

The Beast
Dir.Bertrand Bonello

Behind The Mountains
Dir. Mohamed Ben Attia

La Chimera
Dir. Alice Rohrwacher

Europa
Dir. Sudabeh Mortezai

Explanation For Everything
Dir. Gabor Reisz

Goodbye Julia
Dir. Mohamed Kordofani

Green Border
Dir. Agnieszka Holland

Les Indésirables
Dir. Ladj Ly

Matchet
Dir. Sonia Ben Slama

The Nature Of Love
Dir, Monia Chokri

The Promised Land
Dir. Nikolaj Arcel

Sarafina!
Dir. Darrel James Rood

Sidonie In Japan
Dir. Élise Girard

Terrestrial Verses
Dir. Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami

THE 11TH CONTINENT

Between Revolutions
Dir. Vlad Petri

The Bride
Dir. Myriam Birara

Casablanca
Dir. Adriano Valerio

Coconut Head Generation
Dir. Alain Kassanda

The Dupes
Dir. Tewfik Saleh

Eureka
Dir. Lisandro Alonso

Foremost By Night
Dir. Víctor Iriarte

A Golden Life
Dir. Boubacar Sangaré

The Human Surge 3
Dir. Eduardo William

Little Girl Blue
Dir. Mona Achache

Mambar Pierrette
Dir. Rosine Mbakam

Phantom Beirut
Dir. Ghassan Salhab

Pictures of Ghosts
Dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho

PANORAMA OF MOROCCAN CINEMA

Birdland (Indivision)
Dir. Leila Kilani

Mora Is Here
Dir. Khalil Zairi

Moroccan Badass Girl
Dir. Hicham Lasri

My Dad Is Not Dead
Dir. dil El Fadili

My Thursday Souk
Dir. Izza Edery-Génini

Triple A
Dir. Jihane El Bahhar

CINEMA FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES

The Camel And The Miller
Dir. Abdollah Alimorad

Dounia And The Princess Of Aleppo
Dir. Marya Zarif & André Kadi

Mica
Dir. Ismaël Ferroukhi

Nina And The Hedgehog’s Secret
Dir. Alain Gagnol & Jean-Loup Felicioli

No Love Lost
Dir Erwan Le Duc

The Secret World Of Arrietty
Dir. Hiromasa Yonebayashi

PLACE JEMAA EL FNA

Blue Elephant 2
Dir. Marwan Hamed

Dados
Dir. Abdelouahed Mjahed

Green Card
Dir. Hicham Regragui

Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny
Dir. James Mangold

Pathaan
Dir. Siddharth Anand

Shine A Light
Dir. Martin Scorsese

Volubilis
Dir. Faouzi Bensaïdi

Voy! Voy! Voy!
Dir. Omar Hilal

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