Marrakech Film Festival Director Mélita Toscan du Plantier Reflects On Bittersweet 20th Edition
deadline.comThe Marrakech Film Festival celebrated its 20th edition this year, arriving at the landmark some 22 years after its 2001 launch due to the missed years of the pandemic.
Like its first year, which took place in the aftermath of the terror attacks of 9/11, the 2023 edition has unfolded in a geopolitically tense time due to the Israel-Hamas war.
The conflict, which prompted a number of MENA festivals to cancel or postpone their fall editions, came on top of the deadly earthquake in September in the nearby Atlas Mountains, which cast doubt on whether the festival could go ahead.
Festival director Mélita Toscan du Plantier says that once Morocco had taken the decision to go ahead with festival in the wake of the quake there was never any question of stopping the festival due to the conflict. “I couldn’t sleep for days after October 7 and this is now a horrible war for both sides, but cancelling the festival didn’t make sense.
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