The Marrakesh International Film Festival will run from October 3 to 8 this year with German director Volker Schlondorff presiding over the feature film jury. Jeremy Irons will head up the short film jury.
This is the third go round for Marrakesh which has been gaining momentum throughout its run. Very popular with the French industry, the festival will be presided over by French actress Nathalie Baye and will present 73 works, whether feature, premiere, hommage or short.
The late Daniel Toscan du Plantier, who was formerly president of the festival as well as its quite vocal promoter will be the subject of a tribute evening during the event.
Directors Ridley Scott and Oliver Stone while Alain Delon, Yousra, Amina Rachid and Amitabh Bachchan will also receive tributes.
Joining Schlondorff on the main jury are Spanish actor Miguel Bose, Canadian actress Pascale Bussieres, Kiwi actress Kerry Fox, Indian actor Shashi Kapoor, French actress Virginie Ledoyen, Moroccan journalist Hinde Taarji, Moroccan director Mohamed Abderrahman Tazi adn French director Andre Techine.
Opening film is Mille Mois by Faouzi Bensaidi, a Moroccan/French/Belgian co-production which centers on the life of a woman in a small village raising her son in the absence of his father who is in prison. It is the first work from Bensaidi.
The official competition list follows:

Abar Aranaye by Gotam Ghose from India
Au Feu by Pjer Zalica from Bosnia
Baboussia by Lidia Bobrova from Russia
Hysterical Blindness by Mira Nair from the US
M. Ibrahim by Francois Dupeyron from France
La Premiere Lettre by Abolfazl Jalili fron Iran and France
Raja by Jacques Doillon from France and Morocco
The Station Agent by Tom McCarthy from the US
Suite Habana by Fernando Perez from Cuba
Les Yeux Secs by Narjiss Nejjar from France and Morocco
Zaitochi by Takeshi Kitano from Japan
Le Soleil Assassine by Abdelkrim Bahloul from Algeria