Marrakech International Film Festival: Legendary Director Martin Scorsese is Back !

American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor Martin Scorsese will take part in the 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival due Nov.24 –Dec.02, 2023.

The announcement was made by the festival’s organizers in a press release. For over four decades, Martin Scorsese has been one of the world’s most influential film artists. An ardent defender of cinema, the legendary director is a long-time supporter of the Marrakech International Film Festival, which he has attended on five occasions.

In 2023, Scorsese returns to take part in the festival’s 20th edition to take on the role of Patron of the 6th edition of the Atlas Workshops, the festival’s industry program dedicated to talent from the African continent and the Arab world. Scorsese is the first major artist invited to be the patron of the workshops.

He said: “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. 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.”

The Atlas Workshops is an industry talent development program launched in 2018 by the Marrakech International Film Festival. It supports the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers and creates a space and environment for exchanges between international professionals and regional talent.

Over its five editions to date, the Atlas Workshops has to date supported 111 projects and films, including 48 from Morocco. Several films supported by the Atlas Workshops have been selected for and won prizes at major international festivals, confirming the program’s role as a key platform for incubation of work from the African continent and the Arab world.

The 2023 edition of the Atlas Workshops will be marked by the presence of Martin Scorsese, who will take part in several sessions with the project teams in attendance. In doing so, the director will inaugurate a new tradition at the Marrakech International Film Festival: annually, a major figure of world cinema will be invited to be the patron of the Atlas Workshops.
Each year’s participants will bear the name of that year’s patron. Thus, 2023’s Atlas Workshop filmmakers will be the Class of Martin Scorsese.