Marrakech Film Festival Director Mélita Toscan du Plantier Reflects On Bittersweet 20th Edition

In one of the earliest announcements in recent memory, the Cannes Film Festival announced early Thursday morning Paris time the president of the jury for 2024. And, in something of a surprise, this year’s president is Greta Gerwig, a soon-to-be multiple Oscar nominee for the 2023 blockbuster “Barbie.” Gerwig is the first woman to lead the jury since Cate Blanchett in 2018 and the second American this decade after Spike Lee presided over the first post-pandemic jury in 2021.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Dennis Ruh, the head of the European Film Market, has issued a statement saying that he will step down from his position after the 2024 edition of the Berlin Film Festival. Ruh unveiled the news of his upcoming departure in a letter sent to journalists shortly after Tricia Tuttle, the former head of the BFI London Film Festival, was announced as the new director of the Berlinale starting in 2025.

Berlin Film Festival has appointed Tricia Tuttle, the former director of the BFI London Film Festival, to become the new director of the international film event starting in 2024. Tuttle will succeed Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek who have co-led the Berlinale as artistic and executive directors since 2020 and will step down after this year’s edition when their respective mandates end. The Berlin Film Festival is the world’s second biggest international film festival after Cannes.

Tricia Tuttle has been named director of the Berlin Film Festival. 

The Sundance Film Festival is celebrating its 40th anniversary in January and it’s no surprise that some legendary Park City filmmakers are returning with new films for the 2024 edition. Among the alumni are Steven Soderbergh, whose landmark film “Sex, Lies and Videotape” debuted at the 1989 fest; Debra Granik, whose Best Picture nominated “Winter’s Bone” won the Grand Jury Dramatic prize at the 2010 festival; and Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who will premiere their fourth movie at Sundance following 2006’s “Half Nelson,” 2008’s “Sugar” and 2015’s “Mississippi Grind.” READ MORE: “American Fiction,” “May December,” and “Past Lives” Top 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards Soderbergh’s latest effort is “Presence,” starring Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, and Julia Fox.

MBC Studios is developing a series adaptation of popular Saudi writer Osamah Almuslim’s best-selling debut horror novel Khawf (Fear).

Saudi Arabia‘s Red Sea International Film Festival is midway through its third edition, running November 30 to December 9 in the palatial surroundings of the seafront Ritz Carlton in the port city of Jeddah.

MARRAKECH – Nominated three times for the Best Actor Academy Award, including in “Eastern Promises” by his dear friend and close collaborator David Cronenberg, and best known for playing Aragorn in “The Lord of the Rings” by Peter Jackson, actor Viggo Mortensen is also a big fan of Marrakech. He has returned for the 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which wrapped this weekend, to give an In Conversation session, talking about his career, and to present Lisaandro Alonso’s 146-minute drama “Eureka,” which premiered in Cannes (read our review).

Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir has made history at the 20th edition of Morocco’s Marrakech Film Festival as the first local director to win its top prize with her hybrid documentary The Mother Of All Lies.

Will Smith has revealed that the development of I Am Legend 2 is moving at pace, with both him and Michael B. Jordan on board and a first script delivered.

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

Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival launched its third edition on Thursday with a characteristically starry red carpet featuring the likes of Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Sharon Stone and Will Smith.

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.

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.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor AGC Intl., the international sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio AGC Studios, has picked up world rights from Image Nation Abu Dhabi, MBC Studios and VOX Studios on Yasir Al Yasiri‘s “HWJN,” and from O3 Medya and Dhafer L’Abidine’s Double A Productions on L’Abidine’s “To My Son.” Saudi fantasy romance ‘HWJN’ will open the Red Sea Film Festival on Nov. 30, while the emotional family drama “To My Son” will premiere in Red Sea’s Arab Spectacular section.

Stuart Ford’s AGC International has picked up world rights to two Arab-produced titles, HWJN by Yasir Al-Yasiri and To My Son byDhafer L’abidine, ahead of their debuts at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival. 

Mammoth Film Festival, running from Feb. 29 to March 4, will honor “Drunk History” host Derek Waters during the ceremony for his film and television contributions. He will receive the Golden Mammoth Film Festival Award.

Tilda Swinton has many talents, including performing, producing, collaborating, writing, and dressing up, not to mention expressing herself beautifully on screen and in her choice of language. It’s the second time that I’ve interviewed the performance artist at the Marrakech International Film Festival, and I love how she talks.

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 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.