1 of 3 | Jodie Foster, pictured at the TIFF Tribute Awards in Toronto in September, will be honored later this month at the Marrakech International Film Festival. Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo
Jodie Foster, Guillermo del Toro, Raouya and Hussein Fahmi as set to be honored at the 22nd annual Marrakech International Film Festival later this month, organizers announced Tuesday morning.
The festival, held annually in Marrakesh — Morocco’s fourth largest city since 2003 — runs from Nov. 28 to Dec. 6.
“The festival will celebrate four personalities whose careers reflect the richness and diversity of the seventh art,” organizers said in a press release, noting that they “are artists from different backgrounds, each of whom embodies in their own way the universal power of cinema.”
“With these tributes, Marrakesh reaffirms its role as a crossroads of cultures and talents, a place where world cinema converges together and where the voices that shape the collective imagination are heard,” they said.
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Foster, a two-time Oscar winner who has been an actor since she was a child, said she feels “blessed to have been chosen for this tribute,” and that she’ll be debuting a new French film, Vie Privee (A Private Life) at the festival.
“What an honor to discover your beautiful city of Marrakesh and to celebrate film at the same time,” she said.
Three-time Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro said he is thrilled that he has been invited back to the festival, where he will present his latest film, the Oscar Isaac-starring Frankenstein.
“I am especially honored to receive a tribute,” del Toro said.
Hussein Fahmi, an Egyptian actor, director and producer for more than 50 years, attended the first Marrakech film festival — noted that he shot Damy wa dmoy wa ebtsamty (My Blood, My Tears, My Smile) in the city — and said that “coming back to this joyful city to be honored is a very precious moment.”
Raouya, born Fatima Harandi, is a Morroccan acting legend who called the tribute an immense honor.
“What joy and emotion to be celebrated in my own country, in the ochre city, at one of its largest film events,” they said.
South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho was previously announced to lead the jury at this year’s festival.
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Jodie Foster (R) and Matthew McConaughey attend the premiere of “Contact” in Los Angeles on July 1, 1997. Foster plays Dr. Ellie Arroway in the film, who finds proof of extraterrestrial intelligence. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
