The 21^st edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival takes place from November 29^th to December 7^th, 2024

A core programme of the Marrakech International Film Festival, the Conversations series offers audiences the chance to meet some of the biggest names in international cinema.

One of the most eagerly awaited events of the Festival, the Conversations programme returns for a series of rich and exciting exchanges with leading figures from the world of cinema.

Eighteen leading personalities—directors, actors, scriptwriters, and producers from six continents—are expected in Marrakech this year. They are invited to share anecdotes and candid discussions about their vision and practice of their profession with festival-goers. 

The Conversations program of this 21^st edition of the Festival will be attended by Academy Award, Golden Globe, Cannes Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival award-winners. They are US director, screenwriter, and producer Tim Burton; Canadian director and screenwriter David Cronenberg; Mexican director, screenwriter, and producer Alfonso Cuarón; US director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay; US director and screenwriter Todd Haynes; Australian director and screenwriter Justin Kurzel; French director and screenwriter François Ozon; British actor Gemma Arterton; US actor and director Sean Penn; Iranian director, screenwriter, and producer Mohammad Rasoulof; Brazilian director and screenwriter Walter Salles; Russian director and screenwriter Kirill Serebrennikov; Mauritanian director and screenwriter Abderrahmane Sissako; and French director and screenwriter Justine Triet. Moroccan filmmakers Alaa Eddine Aljem, Yasmine Benkiran, Ismaël El Iraki, and Kamal Lazraq will be in conversation about their first films.

CONVERSATION PROGRAMME

Saturday, November 30^th

11:00: Justine Triet

15:00: Tim Burton

Sunday, December 1^st

11:00: David Cronenberg

15:00: Alfonso Cuarón

Monday, December 2^nd

11:00: Ava DuVernay

15:00: Walter Salles

Tuesday, December 3^rd

11:00: François Ozon

15:00: Justin Kurzel

Wednesday, December 4^th

11:00: Kirill Serebrennikov

15:00: Sean Penn

Thursday, December 5^th

11:00: Mohammad Rasoulof

15:00: Gemma Arterton

Friday, December 6^th

11:00: Panel Conversation—Alaa Eddine Aljem, Yasmine Benkiran, Ismaël El Iraki, and Kamal Lazraq

15:00: Todd Haynes

Saturday, December 7^th

11:00: Abderrahmane Sissako

Conversations last approximately 60 minutes.

At Meydene Theater

M Avenue (2 avenue de la Ménara, Marrakech)

BIOGRAPHIES

Gemma Arterton

Actor, producer and comedian / UK

With a style so unique the adjective “Burtonesque” was coined, acclaimed filmmaker and illustrator Tim Burton has written, directed, and produced numerous iconic films—encompassing cult favorites, box-office smashes, and inventive adaptations. Credited with kickstarting the juggernaut of superhero films with Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), reinvigorating stop-motion animation with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Corpse Bride (2005), putting a macabre twist on the grand-scale musical with Sweeney Todd (2007), and creating some of cinema’s most iconic antiheroes like Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990), Burton’s inimitable work spans multiple genres, making him one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary cinema. His most recent feature film, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), premiered on the opening night of the 81^st Venice International Film Festival.

David Cronenberg

Director, screenwriter and producer / Canada

Alfonso Cuarón

Director, Screenwriter, Producer – Mexico

Ava DuVernay

Director and screenwriter / USA

Passionate about the visual arts since childhood, Todd Haynes studied art and semiotics at Brown University. In 1987, he made the medium-length film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story ith Barbie dolls. Since then, he has tirelessly continued to address questions of gender and identity. His first feature film Poison (1991), inspired by the work of Jean Genet, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. After Safe (1995), which revealed Julianne Moore, he conjured David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust period in Velvet Goldmine (1998), then paid homage to Douglas Sirk with Far from Heaven (2002). In 2006, Haynes had six actors play Bob Dylan in I’m Not There. He went on to direct the mini-series Mildred Pierce (2011) before returning to film with Carol (2015). He then directed Wonderstruck (2017), which had its premiere in the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by Dark Waters (2019), with Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, his award-winning music documentary The Velvet Underground (2021), and his most recent release, May December (2023), with Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, which also premiered in competition at Cannes.

Justin Kurzel

Director and screenwriter / Australia

Passionate about cinema from a young age, François Ozon first tried his hand at directing as a teenager, filming his family with his Super 8 camera. In 1990, he enrolled in La Fémis after studying under Éric Rohmer. After making several short films, he made a name for himself with his first feature, the transgressive satire Sitcom (1998), which was followed by the thriller Criminal Lovers (1999); Water Drops on Burning Rocks (1999), adapted from an unpublished play by Rainer Werner Fassbinder; and Under the Sand (2000), starring Charlotte Rampling. The musical comedy 8 Women (2002) features eight iconic actors, among them Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, and Isabelle Huppert, who together received a Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Prolific director, Ozon has explored a variety of genres, juggling comedy, film noir, drama, and fantasy. His critical and popular successes include Swimming Pool (2003), Ricky (2009), Potiche (2010), In the House (2012), which won the Golden Shell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and the European Film Award for Best Screenplay, Young & Beautiful (2013), Frantz (2016), and L'Amant Double (2017). In 2019, Ozon won the Grand Prize of the Jury in Berlin for By the Grace of God. After Summer of 85 (2020), Peter von Kant (2021), Everything Went Fine (2022), and The Crime Is Mine (2023), Ozon directed When Fall Is Coming (2024), which won the award for Best Screenplay at San Sebastián.

Sean Penn

Actor, director and screenwriter / USA

Mystic River and his second in 2009 for Gus Van Sant's Milk. He was also awarded the Best Actor Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for his performance in Nick Cassavetes’s She’s So Lovely. As a filmmaker, Penn’s esteemed work includes the Academy Award-nominated Into the Wild, Flag Day, The Pledge, The Crossing Guard, and his debut film, The Indian Runner. Established in January 2010 by Penn as the J/P Haitian Relief Organization in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic Haiti earthquake, the emergency relief nonprofit, renamed Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), continues to deliver immediate aid to underserved communities across the globe.

Mohammad Rasoulof

Director, screenwriter and producer / Iran

(2013), and the Prix Un Certain Regard for A Man of Integrity (2017). In 2019, he wrote and produced both The Red Hatchback and Son-Mother. In 2020, he directed There Is No Evil, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. Rasoulof’s latest film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) was selected for the Official Competition at Cannes, where it won both the Special Jury Prize and the FIRPRESCI Prize. The film went on to win the Audience Award for Best European Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, and is Germany’s official submission for the 2025 Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.

Walter Salles

Director and screenwriter / Brazil

Russian director and screenwriter Kirill Serebrennikov studied physics in his home country. In parallel with his studies, he trained himself in directing for theater, opera, and cinema. He directed his first feature film Razdetyye in 1994, followed by Ragin (2004) and Bed Stories (2005). Serebrennikov’s breakthrough came with Playing the Victim (2006), which won the Best Film Award at the Rome Film Festival. Further recognition quickly followed: Yuri's Day (2008) won a Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury, the Don Quixote Award, and the Youth Jury Award at the Locarno Film Festival. The Student (2016) won the Un Certain Regard Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Dedicated to rock music, Summer (2018) was also selected for Cannes, where it won acclaim from critics and audiences alike. He returned to Cannes with Petrov’s Flu (2021), Tchaikovsky's Wife (2022), and Limonov: The Ballad (2024), all of which were selected for the Official Competition. Alongside his works for cinema, Serebrennikov has also directed and produced numerous plays, dramas, ballets, and operas at prestigious venues including the Komische Oper Berlin, the Mariinsky Theater, the Bolshoi Theater, the Opéra national de Paris, and the Deutsches Theater Berlin. His most recent production, The Black Monk (2023), opened the Festival d'Avignon, at the illustrious Palais des Papes. Alongside his many accolades, Serebrennikov was named a Commander of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2018.

Abderrahmane Sissako

Director and screenwriter / Mauritania

The Game (1989) and October (1993), which was presented in the Un Certain Regard programme at the Cannes Film Festival. In response to a request for films of the fables of Jean de La Fontaine, Sissako made The Camel and the Floating Sticks (1995), which was followed by Sabriya (1996), a short for the Africa Dreamings series. In 1998, he shot Life on Earth, a return to his homeland that echoes the texts of Aimé Césaire. His Waiting for Happiness (2002) won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes, the Yennenga Stallion at the FESPACO in Ouagadougou, and the Grand Prix at the Arab Cinema Biennial in Paris. Shot at his family's home in Mali, Bamako (2006) was selected out of competition at Cannes. Timbuktu (2014) was presented in the Official Competition at Cannes and generated great enthusiasm by becoming the first Mauritanian film to compete for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In France, the film won seven César Awards, including those for Best Director and Best Film.

Justine Triet

Director and screenwriter / France

Panel conversation

Yasmine Benkiran

Director and screenwriter / Morocco

Alaa Eddine Aljem was born in Rabat in 1988 and studied cinema at ESAV Marrakech and INSAS in Brussels. He has directed and produced several films, which have been selected for numerous festivals around the world. Screen International named him one of the five rising stars of the Arab world. In 2019, he directed The Unknown Saint, which was selected in competition at La Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival as well as at the Marrakech International Film Festival. In 2020, Aljem attended the Atlas Workshops to develop the screenplay for his upcoming film, Eldorado.

Ismaël El Iraki

Director, screenwriter and producer / Morocco 

After graduating from the directing department of La Fémis in 2011, Kamal Lazraq directed his first short film, Drari (2011), which won the 2nd Cinéfondation Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Grand Prix for Best Short Film at the Entrevues Belfort International Film Festival. He then directed the short The Man with the Dog (2013). He attended the Atlas Workshops while writing the script for his first feature film, Hounds (2023), which went on to win the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and the Jury Prize at the Marrakech International Film Festival.

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