Famous American director Martin Scorsese has confirmed his participation in the 20th Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM), scheduled to take place between November 24 and December 2.
The Marrakech International Film Festival Foundation (FIFM) has announced that American director Martin Scorsese will be the mentor of the 6th edition of the Atlas Workshops, which will be held in line with the 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM).
The Foundation stated that legendary director and ardent defender of cinema, Martin Scorsese, has been one of the world’s most influential filmmakers for over four decades, adding that the American filmmaker, who has taken part in the Marrakech Film Festival on five occasions, would be returning to take part in the 20th edition.
According to the organizers, Scorsese has agreed to be the mentor of the 6th edition of the Atlas Workshops, the Festival’s industry program dedicated to talent from the African and Arab regions, scheduled to take place between November 27 and 30. The director of Raging Bull and Goodfellas will thus be the first major personality invited to sponsor an edition of the Workshops, naming his graduating class after him. Therefore, the Atlas Workshops’ 2023 class will be named the “Martin Scorsese Class.”
Quoted in the Foundation’s release, Scorsese expressed his “joy in returning to the Marrakech Film Festival, a very dear festival to me, and when I was not attending in person, I was attending with my heart,” adding that “for this very special anniversary edition of the Festival, I have been entrusted with a precious mission to interact with young filmmakers and guide them on their path.”
“I look forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones,” concluded the legendary director.
The Atlas Workshops is a talent development program established in 2018 by the Marrakech Film Festival Foundation to support a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers and create a space for exchange between international professionals and regional talent.
For five editions, the Atlas Workshops have supported 111 projects and films, including forty-eight Moroccan projects and films.
Several films that were supported by this program have been selected and awarded prizes at major international festivals, attesting to the Atlas Workshops’ role as a key incubator and platform for the region. The latest edition of the Cannes Film Festival also featured in several sections four films that were supported by the Atlas Workshops.
