Marrakech International Film Festival Canceled Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

The Marrakech International Film Festival Foundation has decided to cancel the 19th edition of this annual event that showcases actors from the 7th art from around the world. In a press release dated September 4, the organizers, who had hoped to hold the event next November, announced their decision to postpone it. Like several major cultural events, the coronavirus will also have put an end to the FIFM, considered one of the major events in the world of cinema.

It should be remembered that in 2017 already, the event had to take a break for a makeover, which certainly did not do any good for the various players and partners in the 7th art world on the African continent and worldwide. At its relaunch the following year, the FIFM, led by a new team with a new artistic vision, seemed to regain the trust of its partners. This is evidenced by the rich list of winners in the last two years.

The 18th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival in 2019 had a jury chaired by British Tilda Swinton. It awarded five prizes during the closing ceremony. The Golden Star, representing the festival’s grand prize, went to the Mexican film "Valley of Souls", while Australian actor Tony Wallace received the award for Best Actor for his role in the film "Babyteeth" as a drug dealer. As for the Best Actress award, it went to Roxanne Scrimshaw and Nichola Burley, two British actresses who played roles in Fyzal Boulifa’s film "Lynn+Lucy". Meanwhile, the Best Director award was won by Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim for his feature film "Tlamess", and the Jury Prize was won ex-aequo by the Chinese film "Mosaic Portrait" by Zhai Yixiang and the Saudi film "Last Visit" (Akher Ziyara) by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan.

The FIFM, which each year also honors Moroccan cinema through the presence of several local actors and directors, welcomes the cream of international film stars and is placed under the high patronage of King Mohammed VI.