Martin Scorsese To Attend His “Beloved” Marrakech International Film Fest As It Marks 20th Edition

Melanie Goodfellow
·2 min read

Martin Scorsese has been confirmed as a special guest of the upcoming Marrakech International Film Festival as it gears up for its 20th edition, running from November 24 to December 2.

Scorsese, whose new movie Killers of the Flower Moon begins its worldwide rollout in early October, is a long-time supporter of the Moroccan festival and has attended five times.

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As well as participating in this year’s 20th edition celebrations, he has also agreed to take on the role of patron of the sixth edition of the Atlas Workshops, the festival’s industry program dedicated to emerging talent from the African continent and the Arab world.

“I am always happy to be returning to my beloved Marrakech Film Festival—when I haven’t been able to attend in person, I’ve always been there in spirit,” Scorsese said in a statement.

“For this very special anniversary edition of the festival, I have been entrusted with a precious task: to interact with young filmmakers and help to guide them on their way. I look forward to seeing old friends, and to making new ones.”

Launched by Marrakech in 2018, the Atlas Workshops has supported more than 111 projects and films over its first five editions.

Four of the Middle East and North Africa titles playing in Cannes this year had gone through its program, including Un Certain Regard Best Director winner The Mother Of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir (which also won L’Œil d’Or for Best Documentary) and Un Certain Regard Jury Prize winner Hounds by Kamal Lazraq.

Amjad Al Rasheed’s Inshallah A Boy, which screened in Critics’s Week and has since been selected for TIFF, and Directors’ Fortnight title Deserts by Faouzi Bensaïdi were also past participants.

Scorsese will take part in several sessions with the project teams in attendance.

His presence will inaugurate a new initiative under which a major figure of world cinema will be invited to mentor the Atlas Workshops and then the participants will bear the name of that year’s patron.

As such, 2023’s Atlas Workshop filmmakers will be known as the Class of Martin Scorsese.

The sixth edition of the workshops will run from November 27 to 30. The project selection has yet to be announced. The call for entries for projects in development closed on July 20 , while the deadline for films in production or post-production is September 21.

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