Rabat – Renowned American director Martin Scorsese is set to attend the highly-anticipated Marrakech International Film Festival Atlas Workshops, where he will be the official patron of the festival “Atlas Workshops.”
Scorsese is no stranger to the Marrakech festival. In 2013, he headed the festival’s jury, and in 2018, he presented a tribute to famous actor Robert De Niro.
“I am always happy to be returning to my beloved Marrakech Film Festival—when I haven’t been able to attend in person, I’ve always been there in spirit,” said Scorsese in a press release from the festival’s organizers.
“For this very special anniversary edition of the festival, I have been entrusted with a precious task: to interact with young filmmakers and help to guide them on their way. I look forward to seeing old friends, and to making new ones,” he added.
The Atlas Workshops is a 2018 initiative launched to support the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers.
The workshop provides an environment for exchanges between global household names and young filmmakers in the Arab world. Scorsese is set to take part in several sessions under the workshop.
Since its inception, the program has supported 111 film projects, 48 of which are from Morocco. Some projects incubated in the Atlas Workshop have gone on to gain international accolades winning prizes in international festivals.
The 2023 Cannes Festival saw four movies from the Atlas workshops screened in various sections: “The Mother of all Lies” by Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir, Hounds by Moroccan director Kamal Lazraq, “Inshallah a Boy” by Jordan’s Amjad Al Rasheed, and “Deserts” by Moroccan director Faouzi Bensaidi.
The six annual Atlas Workshops are set to take place from November 27-30 alongside the 20th annual Marrakech International Film Festival, which takes place from November 24 to December 2.
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