"I've been doing this for 24 years," says Mélita Toscan du Plantier, a tone of defiance cutting through her voice. "I meet people everywhere I go. At the Oscars, at the BAFTAs, at Cannes, at Venice, everywhere. I went to Tasmania to meet with Justin [Kurzel] and his wife [Essie Davis]. My task is really to represent the festival all over the world and to convince people to come, but the most important thing is that the people who come become our best ambassadors. We are a real film festival,” she adds. “A festival should never pay somebody to come, not even to be the jury, not even to teach a masterclass. Martin Scorsese, who is our godfather figure here, told me that.”
Most film festivals are fueled by competition—scrambling for the hottest unreleased films, building the flashiest markets, and spending big to lure A-list stars. Unlike its glitzier counterparts, Marrakech keeps its focus sharp, showcasing Arab, Gulf, and Levantine films while making cinema accessible to locals with free screenings and hosting workshops for emerging African filmmakers. Working alongside artistic director Rémi Bonhomme and with the backing of SAR Prince Moulay Rachid, Toscan du Plantier has turned the festival into a global cultural force.
“My late husband Daniel Toscan du Plantier started the festival following conversations with His Majesty, King Mohammed VI,” she says. “The festival wouldn’t exist without the will of His Majesty. Even after September 11, 2001, when a lot of guests cancelled, he continued his support. That courage sent a beautiful message of tolerance to the world.”
This year's guests include Tim Burton, Alfonso Cuaron, Justine Triet, Ava DuVernay, François Ozon, Gemma Arterton, Todd Haynes and Justin Kurzel, whose new film The Order will open the festival. The festival will also honour actor Sean Penn and director David and, posthumously, pay homage to Moroccan star Naïma Elmcherqui. This year’s jury includes directors Luca Guadagnino, Santiago Mitre, Zoya Akhtar and Ali Abbasi and actors Patricia Arquette, Andrew Garfield, Virginie Efira, Nadia Kounda and Jacob Elordi.
“This is Jacob’s first time in Morocco, and first time as a jury member,” says Toscan du Plantier. “He is very excited to come. It is also Sean Penn’s first time here. When he saw the list of people coming, he said, ‘Mélita, would you introduce me to Justin Kurzel? He is such an amazing director.’”
A last-minute addition to the festival’s list of guests came in the form of one of Toscan du Plantier’s good friends, actress Monica Bellucci. Though Toscan du Plantier is quick to point out that she, herself, is not an actress, the pair appeared together in a pivotal scene in Mark Frost and David Lynch’s 2017 television series Twin Peaks, an illustration of just how deeply connected the festival’s co-founder is to both the European and American film industries and how often she is called upon to provide introductions.
“One day David called me and said that he had a favour to ask, but that it was very, very secret,” she tells me. “As we were already close friends, I said, ‘of course’. Then he asked me if I could speak to Monica Bellucci and see if she could do a cameo in his new TV series, the Twin Peaks sequel. Of course, Monica said yes right away. He came to Paris to shoot only one scene with Monica, but on the night before the scene he called me and said, ‘so tomorrow you have to come, you have to be there’. And I said, ‘what do you mean I have to be there?’ And he said, ‘you have to be in the scene with us.’ I said, ‘no David, I’m not going to be in the scene’. And he said, ‘oh come on. You have to do it! Finally, I agreed. I didn’t have anything to say, I was just there, but it was quite fascinating because he was playing in the scene, and it was intense between him and Monica because he was directing as well. I don’t know if I would do it again, but it was fun. It was a good memory.”
After so many years helming the festival, Toscan du Plantier has created many good memories herself. Besides accommodation in the opulent La Mamounia Hotel, a dazzling establishment with high adobe walls, lush carpets, tinkling waterfalls, private orange groves and its own scent, guests are free to explore the city and other parts of Morocco. "Jessica Chastain went shopping, without bodyguards," says Toscan du Plantier. "Simon Baker went trekking in the mountains with his agent, so there is no security problem here.”
True to its ethos, the festival gathers stories written and told by filmmakers from the region and providing an opportunity for visitors to deepen their connection with this part of the world, letting the cinema do the talking. Last year, Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias offered a deeply personal exploration of Palestinian identity through the lens of actress Hiam Abbass and her family. The film exemplified what Jessica Chastain, 2023 jury president, articulated during her opening-night speech:
“The world we share is shattered and divided,” Chastain said. “Throughout history, art has been used as an accessible tool for communication, raising awareness about social issues, and affecting positive change. “[Cinema can] break down barriers and start important conversations about difficult topics. We can sublimate pain and suffering and give rise to a consciousness of healing and unification, to create a deeper protection for all.”
“I thought she threaded the needle perfectly,” Toscan du Plantier says. “She’s quite courageous.”
The festival’s competition is reserved for first- and second-time directors, highlighting emerging talent. Its Atlas Workshops, which pair visiting filmmakers with aspiring screenwriters, have become the incubator for films that later debut at Cannes and beyond.
This year, Jeff Nichols (The Bikeriders) will mentor filmmakers, continuing a tradition upheld by past guests like six-time guest Martin Scorsese. Among the competing films are Saïd Hamich’s nostalgic queer romance Across the Sea, Mahdi Fleifel’s immigrant drama To a Land Unknown, and Neo Sora’s dystopian coming-of-age thriller Happyend. They’ll vie for the $50,000 L’étoile d’Or prize, which last year went to Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir’s Kadib Abyad (The Mother of All Lies).
Among the films being screened, Academy Award frontrunners John Crowley's We Live in Time, Edward Berger's Conclave and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine as Light, the competition and the African-focused 11th Continent section is where the revelations are to be found. Films like Saïd Hamich's nostalgic queer romance Across the Sea, Mahdi Fleifel's powerful immigrant drama To a Land Unknown and Neo Sora's dystopic coming of age thriller Happyend will compete for the L’étoile d’Or, a US$50,000 prize. Last year, the prize went to Asmae El Moudir for her documentary, Kadib Abyad (The Mother of All Lies), the first time the recipient had been a Moroccan filmmaker.
"Two years ago, there was this Indian journalist who wrote something about me, and it made me laugh," says Toscan du Plantier. "She said that I was so involved and so passionate about the festival that it's like I was organizing the wedding of my daughter. Every day is a wedding. It is so much work. It's so intense. And it's true, in a way. I put all my passion into the details, into everything. I want the guests to really love it and to really want to come back and have the best time."