Morocco Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Untamed Talent, a management and production company led by former Mister Smith Entertainment executive Antone Saliba, is launching with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions, a joint venture of leading Middle East distribution companies Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment. Front Row Productions will provide capital and strategic value to support Untamed Talent’s goals to innovate new business models covering the South West Asia and North Africa region, the fastest-growing entertainment market in the world.

The Marrakech Film Festival celebrated its 20th edition this year, arriving at the landmark some 22 years after its 2001 launch due to the missed years of the pandemic.

Former Mister Smith sales executive Antone Saliba has launched management and production company Untamed Talent, with the backing of Dubai-based Front Row Productions.

Ben Croll The Marrakech Film Festival’s industry-focused Atlas Workshops will complement its existing support for development and production with the Atlas Distribution Award – a brand-new initiative meant to fuel wider domestic and international distribution for the Moroccan, Arab and Pan-African films presented at the festival. Taking inspiration from similar European schemes, the Marrakech Foundation will offer financial incentives to regional distributors releasing festival-selected titles.

Martin Dale Contributor Moroccan director Hicham Lasri (“The End,” “Headbang Lullaby”) is presenting the world premiere of his seventh feature film, “Moroccan Badass Girl,” at the Marrakech Film Festival, and also participating in the Atlas Workshops with “Happy Lovers.” He describes both as dark comedies about antiheroes in the Arab world, “a bit in the vein of the Coen brothers.” “Moroccan Badass Girl,” starring Fadoua Taleb, is a contemporary low-budget pic about a headstrong, unpredictable young Moroccan woman in Casablanca. “Happy Lovers” features a clumsy French writer who accepts a mission to kill a well-known author, with a fatwa on his head. Both projects mark a major change from Lasri’s previous six feature films, which have all been set in Morocco in the 1980s, at the end of the so-called “Years of Lead,” during the reign of King Hassan II.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah. Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition.

In Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+, Laysla De Oliveira shocks and awes as Cruz Manuelos, a military recruit who escapes the mean streets to go undercover in the CIA’s war against terrorism.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Melita Toscan du Plantier has been the driving force behind the Marrakech Film Festival ever since her late husband, revered French producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier, wrote to Morocco’s king two decades ago expressing “his ambition for a big international festival in Morocco,” as she recounts. The festival’s 20th edition is currently underway in the ancient Moroccan city, despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Diane Kruger, Bollywood star Ranveer Singh and Saudi actor-writer Abdullah Al-Sadhan are set to receive career honors at Saudi Arabia’s upcoming Red Sea International Film Festival, which has also announced its full jury roster. Joining Baz Luhrmann, who is presiding over the main Red Sea jury, are Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman (“Suicide Squad”); Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire”); Egyptian actor Amina Khalil; (“Grand Hotel”) and Spain’s Paz Vega (“Sex and Lucía,” “The OA”).

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival has unveiled the juries and honorees of its third edition which kicks off on Thursday in the port city of Jeddah.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent After skipping Venice due to the actors’ strike, a busy Willem Dafoe is back on the festival trail, attending the 20th edition of the Marrakech Film Festival with his wife, filmmaker and actor Giada Colagrande. He spoke to Variety about his ties to Morocco, why he’s “happy to be promoting and starting to work again” now that the strike is over, and his role in Tim Burton’s upcoming “Beetlejuice 2.” How does it feel to be back in Marrakech? I’m happy to be back. Morocco for me is “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a film that was a beautiful experience.

Jessica Chastain and Tilda Swinton provided the ultimate study in contrast while attending the second day of the 2023 Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday (November 25) in Marrakech, Morocco.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar-winning actress Jessica Chastain has given her seal of approval to the tentative agreement reached by SAG-AFTRA with the studios to end the near four-month actors’ strike.

Ben Croll Martin Scorsese will no longer attend nor participate in the Marrakech Film Festival’s Atlas Workshops, citing personal reasons. The award-winning filmmaker was slated to serve as artistic godfather for Marrakech’s industry arm, which spotlights development titles and works-in-progress from dynamic new talents from across the MENA world.

The stars are stepping out in Morocco!

Martin Scorsese has cancelled his trip to the Marrakech International Film Festival at the eleventh hour, which he was due to attend as the special honorary guest of its 20th edition.

Ben Croll This year’s Marrakech International Film Festival opened with a testament to art. Two months after a devastating earthquake, and in light of the ever-more heart-wrenching news coming out of the Middle East, the film showcase kicked off with a humanist rallying cry voiced by jury president Jessica Chastain. “In the weeks leading up to the festival, we were not sure that we would even be able to be here,” Chastain said at the Marrakech opening ceremony on Friday.

Martin Scorsese has cancelled his trip to the Marrakech International Film Festival at the eleventh hour, which he was due to attend as the special honorary guest of its 20th edition.

Jessica Chastain, resplendent in a shimmering silver tasseled jump suit, championed the power of art to bring about positive change at the opening night of the Marrakech Film Festival on Friday evening.

Perfume lovers, listen up! You can now get a 50ml bottle of YSL Libre for £27 less this Black Friday.This luxury scent is a favourite among the YSL range, boasting fruity, floral, woody and musky tones that last up to 10 hours. LookFantastic is selling the Yves Saint Laurent Libre Eau de Parfum for £69, but with the code EXTRA at checkout, you can get an extra 5% off, making it just £65.55. Described as blurring "blur masculine and feminine facets to create a distinctive, unisex appeal", YSL Libre has vibrant top notes of tangerine, neroli and aromatic lavender, revealing a sun-drenched heart of jasmine and radiant Moroccan orange blossom.This "sensual" and "sophisticated" perfume has received a glowing 4.92 out of a possible 5 stars on LookFantastic.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Marrakech Film Festival’s 20th edition kicks off on Friday with Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” as its gala opening, Mads Mikkelsen being feted, and a rich roster of stars and top talents supporting a panoply of cinema from the African continent and the Arab world. The event will run Nov. 24-Dec.

Newgrange Signs Business Affairs & Development Chiefs

Lea Glob’s documentary Apolonia, Apolonia earned a leading four nominations today as the IDA Documentary Awards revealed its nominees for the 39th edition of the prestigious event.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Maryam Touzani‘s “The Blue Caftan,” a drama revolving around the love between a closeted man and his wife, has sold more than 500,000 tickets around the world. The Arabic-language movie, which world premiered at Cannes in 2022 and won the Fipresci prize, has become the Moroccan film that sold the most admissions overseas in recent history, according to French promotion org Unifrance. Produced by veteran Moroccan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch (“Casablanca Beats,” “Much Loved”), “The Blue Caftan” stars Lubna Azabal (“Incendies”) and Saleh Bakri (“Costa Brava, Lebanon”).

Mariah Carey! Now that the so-called “Queen of Christmas” kicked off her annual music special, sisters Kim and Khloé Kardashian took North West, Chicago West, Dream Kardashian, and True Thompson to enjoy the star’s Merry Christmas One And All! tour show at the Hollywood Bowl.The girls‘ night out, which included Kris Jenner’s, was filled with unforgettable moments as Kim immortalized their outings with several selfies and videos. The mom of four took to social media to share clips of herself singing along with Chicago while Khloé shared pictures.Mariah Carey shares top essentials while on tourMariah Carey officially welcomes the Holiday Season: ‘It’s Time!’Britney Spears praises Mariah Carey in her memoir: ‘She was completely right’“The Queen of Christmas!!!! For the little girls very FIRST concert ever, we went to see the Queen herself, @mariahcarey !! We all had the best time, creating the most magical memories!! Thank you mommy for taking all of us!,” Khloé wrote on Instagram.Una publicación compartida por Khloé Kardashian (@khloekardashian)The singer brought her twins, Moroccan and Monroe Cannon, 12, to perform with her.

Mariah Carey was joined by her kids on stage for the 2023 Billboard Music Awards!

Billboard Awards.Mariah Carey brought the holiday spirit to the stage with a Aspen-inspired performance of her record-breaking hit “All I Want for Christmas is You” on Sunday. Her performance marked the first time the “Vision of Love” singer performed her modern holiday classic at an awards show. Carey, 54, made her way onto the stage by slowly being dropped down by a ski lift.

A set of Remington hair straighteners, which are said to be 'better than GHD', have dropped to less than £20 in Amazon's Black Friday sale. The Remington Shine Therapy Advanced Ceramic Hair Straighteners, infused with Moroccan argan oil and vitamin E, were first slashed from £79.99 to £24.99 before being reduced further to just £17.99. According to Price Spy, which allows you to check the price history of a product, this is the cheapest the straighteners have been since this time last year.The same product is also on sale at Currys for £19.98 and at Boots, where it is currently retailing for £21.50.

A good hair day can make you feel like a million bucks and hair care fans say you won't even have to spend £20.

wife, Jordan Roemmele, whom he married in 2022, and their son, Seiko Aurelius, who was born earlier this year.He has fresh eggs from his chickens on the kitchen counter, grows “healing herbs” and drinks Mezcal at the ranch-style bar he designed himself.His new hobbies include playing with his goat named Sia, a llama called Yoshi and Auggie the donkey. There are also vultures who live under the porch overlooking the master bedroom.

Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard and Jacques Audiard are among 500 French cinema professionals to have signed an open letter in support of a silent march for peace in Paris this Sunday.

Humza Yousaf has insisted he has "absolute confidence" in Michael Matheson as the SNP leader faced calls to sack the Health Secretary over an £11,000 data roaming bill.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Matteo Garrone’s “Io Capitano” is getting a special screening on Wednesday in Brussels, where hundreds of EU parliament members will watch the timely immigration drama on which Pathè has announced a slew of sales. The film, which is Italy’s Oscar candidate for best international feature film, world premiered to strong reviews in September at Venice Film Festival, where it won best director for Garrone and best emerging actor for its co-star Seydou Sarr.

that has to do with perfume. It's no wonder, as the French have a long history with perfumes and traditions such as perfuming gloves or handkerchiefs as Hubert de Givenchy recommended and some contemporary French women continue to do.

Ethan Shanfeld Denzel Washington is teaming up once again with his “Training Day” and “Equalizer” director Antoine Fuqua to play the ancient Carthaginian general Hannibal in an untitled Netflix movie, Variety has confirmed. The film will be written by John Logan, the three-time Academy Award winner who scribed Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” and Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator.” According to the official logline, the movie is “based on real-life warrior Hannibal, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history. The film covers the pivotal battles he led against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.” Hannibal famously invaded Italy while riding a Northern African war elephant.

Scotland’s Health Secretary has said parliamentary authorities have already looked at the data from the iPad on which he built up an almost £11,000 bill while on holiday, after facing calls to hand it over.