Paolo Sorrentino

Source: Claudio Porcarelli

Paolo Sorrentino

The Marrakech International Film Festival has lined up an all-star international jury to join president Paolo Sorrentino for its 19th comeback edition set for November 11-19.

British actor Vanessa Kirby, German-born actor Diane Kruger, Guatemalan-born American actor Oscar Isaac and French actor Tahar Rahim will join Moroccan director Laila Marrakchi, Australian director Justin Kurzel and Danish director Susanne Bier and Lebanese director-actor Nadine Labaki to award the fest’s Etoile d’Or to one of the 14 features in competition.

Sorrentino – the Oscar-winning Italian director of The Great Beauty and Oscar-nominated The Hand of God – was named as jury president in September.

The titles competing at the festival have yet to be announced, but include first and second features from filmmakers from all over the world.

The festival’s 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to the pandemic.

In 2019, a Tilda Swinton-led jury awarded the Etoile d’Or to Colombia’s Valley of Souls directed by Nicolas Rincon Grille and a Jury Prize ex aequo to Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan’s Last Visit and Zhai Yixiang’s Mosaic Portrait.

The festival also continues to hone its industry angle with its Atlas Workshops programme launched in 2018. The industry and talent-development initiative to highlight the next generation of Moroccan, Arab and African filmmakers will run from November 14-17.

Participants will present their projects in development and films in various stages of production via a co-production market where they can meet international industry execs for personalized mentoring and compete for awards with cash value of €106,000.