The Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) was created in 2001 at the impulse of King Mohammed VI and the Marrakech Cinema Association. Twenty-three editions later, it is one of the great cinephile gatherings of the Arab, African and French-speaking world.

Gallery

scroll →

The festival's vocation is to discover new talents while paying tribute to great figures of world cinema. Among the guests honoured over the years: Martin Scorsese, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Pedro Almodóvar, Sean Penn, Bertrand Tavernier, Chen Kaige, Catherine Deneuve.

I. The sections

Official competition, 11^th Continent (TV series), Panorama of Moroccan cinema, tributes, conversations with the masters, youth screenings. The international jury is chaired each year by a great figure (Isabelle Huppert, James Gray, Tilda Swinton, Paolo Sorrentino).

II. Jemaa el-Fna

A unique feature of the festival: for nine days, Jemaa el-Fna square — UNESCO intangible heritage since 2008 — is transformed into a giant open-air cinema. Free screenings every evening, several thousand spectators, locals and tourists mingled.

III. The cultural stake

The festival has allowed Moroccan cinema to gain international visibility (Maryam Touzani, Nabil Ayouch, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Asmae El Moudir). It also plays a role in promoting Morocco as a land of welcome for international shoots (Ouarzazate, Atlas, Sahara).

∗ Sources

1. Marrakech International Film Festival — festivalmarrakech.info
2. Moroccan Cinematographic Centre — ccm.ma