The 21^st edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival takes place from November 29^th to December 7^th, 2024

The nine members of the jury for the 21^st edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival, taking place from November 29^th to December 7^th 2024, have been announced.

Hailing from nine countries and representing five continents, the jury will award the Étoile d'Or to one of the 14 first and second features in the festival’s International Competition, which is dedicated to the discovery of filmmakers from around the world.

Italian director Luca Guadagnino has taken on the role of Jury President for the 21^st edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival. Thomas Vinterberg, who had previously been appointed president of the jury, had to excuse himself for family reasons.

Cinephile and prolific, Guadagnino has earned a reputation for his eclecticism and cinematic exploration, establishing himself as one of Italy's most brilliant filmmakers. His international career has seen him work with leading actors such as Tilda Swinton and Timothée Chalamet, and more recently Zendaya and Daniel Craig. His filmography, which includes feature films, documentaries, and series, attests to his immense talent and unique cinematic language, capturing youth and desire with intensity, as seen in acclaimed films such as Call Me By Your Name and Challengers.

“I will never forget the first time I arrived in Marrakech: it must’ve been more than 20 years ago, when I was a guest of my friend Valentina Cervi, who was sitting on the jury of the short film competition. I had never been to Morocco before but my Algerian mother grew up there and moved to Casablanca at the age of five. The first time I landed in the great city of Marrakech it was because of this amazing festival and since then for me the City and Cinema are indissolubly connected. My Arab DNA is really, really engraved in the amazing powers of the festival of Marrakech and it is a tremendous honor to lead a wonderful jury for the 21st edition—I am thrilled to see all the great movies and to meet all the great filmmakers participating this year,” said Guadagnino on being named Jury President.

Guadagnino will be joined by an exceptional jury of leading figures from world cinema: Iranian director Ali Abbasi, Indian director Zoya Akhtar, American actor Patricia Arquette, Belgian actor Virginie Efira, Australian actor Jacob Elordi, British-American actor Andrew Garfield, Moroccan actor Nadia Kounda, and Argentine director Santiago Mitre.

The jury will award the 21^st edition's Étoile d’Or to one of the 14 films in competition, following last year's winner, Asmae El Moudir's The Mother of All Lies, decided by a jury chaired by Jessica Chastain. 

The jury will announce its awards at the Festival's Closing Ceremony on Saturday December 7th 2024.

BIOGRAPHIES

LUCA GUADAGNINO – President

Director, Screenwriter, Producer – Italy

 Born in Iran, director Ali Abbasi is based in Denmark. His most recent feature-length film, The Apprentice (2024), starring Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, and Maria Bakalova, had its premiere in the Official Competition at the Festival de Cannes. Holy Spider (2022), his third feature, was shortlisted for Denmark’s submissions to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film after premiering in competition in Cannes, where Zar Amir Ebrahimi was named Best Actress. The film went on to be nominated for four European Film Awards. Border (2018) won the Un Certain Regard Award in Cannes and was nominated for six European Films Awards, winning the Best Visual Effects prize. Shelley (2016), Abbasi’s feature-length directorial debut, screened at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2016. He directed the final two episodes of the first season of the acclaimed series The Last of Us (2023). His latest feature film, The Apprentice (2024), a dive into the underbelly of the American empire, premiered at the Festival de Cannes.

ZOYA AKHTAR

Director, Writer, Producer – India

 The Archies (2023), is the official adaptation and the first ever feature-length film of the globally revered Archie comic series. Through the company Tiger Baby, Akhtar  produced the critically acclaimed series Made in Heaven (2019), the celebratory docu-series Angry Young Men (2024), and the Berlinale Series Award-nominated Dahaad (2023), which garnered international acclaim, solidifying Akhtar’s reputation as a storyteller with universal appeal. This year, Tiger Baby has focused on unscripted storytelling, including the nature documentary Turtle Walker (2024), and In Transit, a series that follows the lives of nine transgender individuals.

PATRICIA ARQUETTE

Actor, Director – USA

 Virginie Efira had her first leading role in David Moreau’s It Boy (2013) and found acclaim with her performance in Justine Triet’s In Bed with Victoria (2016), for which she won the Magritte Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the César Award for Best Actress. She was then seen in Catherine Corsini’s An Impossible Love and Gilles Lellouche’s Sink or Swim (both 2018). After appearing in Paul Verhoeven’s Elle (2016), she collaborated with the director again in his Benedetta (2021). The year 2022 saw her star in two successful films: Alice Winocour's Paris Memories, for which she won both the César and Magritte Awards for Best Actress, and Rebecca Zlotowski's Other People’s Children, for which she won the Lumières Award for Best Actress. Efira is slated to reunite with Zlotowski for Vie privée (upcoming), in which she will star opposite Jodie Foster.

JACOB ELORDI

Actor – Australia

 Andrew Garfield is a two-time Academy Award nominee, an Emmy Award nominee, and a Golden Globe and Tony Award-winning British-American actor. His transformative performances across major studio films, independent features, and on stage have captivated global audiences for over a decade. Garfield can currently be seen starring in John Crowley’s We Live in Time opposite Florence Pugh. He recently wrapped production on Ben Gregor’s The Magic Faraway Tree, co-starring Claire Foy; and Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, in which he stars alongside Julia Roberts, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Ayo Edebiri. In 2022, he starred in the series Under the Banner of Heaven, for which he received his first Emmy nomination, and in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick … Boom!, for which he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor. Additional film credits include: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021); The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021); Under the Silver Lake (2018); Silence (2016); The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel (2012; 2014); The Social Network (2010); and Boy A (2007), for which he won the BAFTA for Best Actor.

NADIA KOUNDA

Actor – Morocco

 The Rif Lover (2011), then went on to play in a series of film and TV roles. In 2017, thanks to her performance in Faouzi Bensaïdi’s Volubilis (2017), she won several awards, including the Étoile d'Or for Best Actress at the El Gouna Film Festival. Between 2019 and 2021, she starred in numerous series around the world, in countries including Algeria, Canada, and Egypt. She went on to be directed by several renowned Moroccan directors, among them Bensaïdi in Summer Days (2022) and Adil El Fadili in My Dad Is Not Dead (2023). Kounda will soon be seen in Yassine Fenane’s L'intermédiaire, la Cigale et la fourmi, Hicham Lasri’s Happy Lovers, Mohamed Nadif’s L'Héritier des secrets, and Meryem Benm’barek’s Behind the Palm Trees.

SANTIAGO MITRE

Director, Screenwriter – Argentina

 The Student (2011), which marked a significant milestone in his career, earning the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. In 2015, Paulina won the Grand Prix of the La Semaine de la Critique at the Festival de Cannes as well as the FIPRESCI Prize. In 2017, The Summit was presented in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, further demonstrating Mitre’s ability to tackle complex issues with a distinct narrative approach. Mitre's fifth feature Argentina, 1985 (2022) had its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. The film went on to receive numerous accolades, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture–Non-English Language, the National Board of Review Freedom of Expression Award, and the Goya Award for Best Ibero-American FIlm, and earned nominations for the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language and the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

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