The 23rd edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival (November 20-28) will open with Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy The Debut, alongside a lineup of 76 films from 39 countries that includes 10 world premieres.
US actor-filmmaker Eisenberg’s The Debut sees Julianne Moore play a 1990s housewife who finds her voice through a local community theatre group. It has previously played at Telluride, Toronto and as the closing-night film of the BFI London Film Festival.
World premieres include two gala screenings – Brazilian filmmaker Fellipe Barbosa’s French-language Leila Et La Nuit, inspired by the life of Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui and starring Roschdy Zem and Marina Foïs. It is based on real events, with France’s Lucky Number repping sales.
There is also Omar Hilal’s His Weakest Creatures, a thriller set in Cairo’s Giza Zoo, led by Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy and Cairo-based Tunisian star Hend Sabry. Front Row is selling.
The official competition showcases new voices in world cinema through 14 first and second feature films in line for the Étoile d’Or. It has three world premieres: Moroccan filmmaker Yassine Marco Marroccu’s documentary-fiction hybrid Alkebulan; France-born Egyptian-Palestinian brothers Rani Massalha and Salem Massalha’s Cairo Shadows; and Iranian-Norwegian filmmaker Farzad Samsami’s feature debut, Waves Of Silence, which was shot in Morocco.
Alkebulan and Cairo Shadows were supported by the festival’s talent development programme, the Atlas Workshops. As previously announced, French actress Marion Cotillard will preside over the competition jury.
The Horizons section features May el-Toukhy’s Venice Golden Lion winner Woman Unknown, Andrew Haigh’s Telluride premiere A Long Winter and Ahmed Hassouna’s Venice premiere Palestine documentary Citizen Osama.
Marrakech 2026 lineup
*world premiere
Official competition
Alkebulan* (Mor-Hun-Qat)
Dir. Yassine Marco Marroccu
Ben’imana (Rwanda-Gabon-Fr-Nor)
Dir. Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo
Cairo Shadows* (Fr-Belg-Tun-Egy)
Dir. Rani Massalha & Salem Massalha
Chronicles From The Siege (Alg-Fr-Palestine)
Dir. Abdallah Al-Khatib
Congo Boy (Central African Republic-Fr-Democratic Republic of the Congo-It)
Dir. Rafiki Fariala
A Day In The Life Of Jo: Chapter Phaedra (Greece-Ger-Fr)
Dir. Jacqueline Lentzou
Eklipse (Austria-It)
Dir. Manuel Wetscher
Furies (Leb-Bra)
Dir. Rami Kodeih
House Of The Wind (Came-Fr-Belg-Benin-Saudi-Qat)
Dir. Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
Marie Madeleine (Fr-Haiti-Belg-Lux-Can)
Dir. Gessica Généus
Our Share Of Sand (UK-India-Greece)
Dir. Shalini Adnani
Sad Girlz (Mex-Sp-Fr)
Dir. Fernanda Tovar
Waves Of Silence* (Nor-Mor-Swe)
Dir. Farzad Samsami
The World Before (S Kor-Japan-Fr)
Dir. Yoon Dan-bi
Gala
The Debut (US) – opening night film
Dir. Jesse Eisenberg
Artificial (US-UK-It)
Dir. Luca Guadagnino
His Weakest Creatures* (UK-Egy-Saudi)
Dir. Omar Hilal
Leila Et La Nuit* (Fr-Mor-Bra)
Dir. Fellipe Barbosa
The Only Living Pickpocket In New York (US)
Dir. Noah Segan
Paper Tiger (US-Bra-It)
Dir. James Gray
Strawberries (Fr-Mor-Sp-Belg)
Dir. Laïla Marrakchi
Horizons
All Of A Sudden (Fr-Japan-Ger-Belg)
Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
A Bit Of Light (Iran-Switzerland-It-Can-Turkey)
Dir. Ali Asgari
The Burning Giants (Thai-Sing-Fr-Neth)
Dir. Phuttiphong Aroonpheng
Citizen Osama (Palestine-Fr)
Dir. Ahmed Hassouna
Clarissa (Nigeria-US)
Dir. Arie Esiri & Chuko Esiri
Dao (Fr-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau)
Dir. Alain Gomis
The Difficult Bride (Fr-Bangladesh-Port-Nor-Ger)
Dir. Rubaiyat Hossain
Everytime (Ger-Austria)
Dir. Sandra Wollner
Fatherland (Pol-Ger-It-Fr)
Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski
Fjord (Romania-Fr-Nor-Den-Fin-Swe)
Dir. Cristian Mungiu
Glaxo (Argentina-Bra)
Dir. Benjamín Naishtat
It Will Happen Tonight (It-Fr-Sp)
Dir. Nanni Moretti
Ketticè (It)
Dir. Giovanni Tortorici
A Long Winter (UK-Can)
Dir. Andrew Haigh
Look Back (Japan)
Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda
The Roses Of Marrakech (It-Mor-Fr)
Dir. Ginevra Elkann
Safe Exit (Egy-Libya-Qat-Tun-Ger)
Dir. Mohammed Hammad
The Smell Of Apples (S Afr-Neth-Chile)
Dir. John Trengove
The Station (Yemen-Jordan-Fr-Ger-Neth-Nor-Qat)
Dir. Sara Ishaq
That’s All Folks (Fr)
Dir. Gustave Kervern
Woman Unknown (Den-Latvia-Swe)
Dir. May el-Toukhy
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