Rabat, November 28, 2012 (MAP)
Rabat, November 28, 2012 (MAP)
Marrakech International Film Festival (MIFF), which will celebrate this year its 12th anniversary is a “story of love and passion”, said its director, Melita Toscan Du Plantier
If at other festivals in the Arab world, for example, the stars are paid for their participation, in Marrakech it is a story of love and passion, the director of FIFM told MAP news agency.
Regarding the future of the festival, Mrs. Toscan Du Plantier stressed that the other events across the world will not “steal the limelight from the MIFF” which has reached maturity and become an essential rendezvous of international cinema.
In 2010, when the festival celebrated its 10th anniversary, 102 international celebrities have walked the red carpet, while in other festivals no more than 2 or 3 stars, who had been paid, made the trip, she said.
For Mrs. Toscan Du Plantier, the MIFF has gained its letters of nobility thanks to the warm welcome of the public, the commitment of the organizers and the quality of its programming.
People come to Marrakech because they have heard of the magic of the festival. Because they know that it is a friendly city, that there is a real audience, she said, noting that the guests of the MIFF thereafter become its ambassadors in the world. When they return home they talk about the festival and as a result people want to come to Marrakech.
The festival started strong enough from its first edition and attracted the greatest names in the international cinema as Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch, Sean Connery and Marrakech continues to attract more and more stars, she stressed.
About the tribute that will be paid to Indian cinema on the occasion of its centenary anniversary, Mrs. Toscan Du Plantier said the festival has succeeded this year a world premiere, by bringing together at the same time and same place a pleiad of Indian stars.
In addition, Mrs. Du Plantier went on to say that the festival offers a moment for sharing experiences and training through its program of master classes, a rendezvous which also offers a real reason to great filmmakers to come even when they have no films to present.
This year the master classes will involve four famous names in international cinema, American Jonathan Demme and Darren Aronofsky, Italian Matteo Garrone and director Brillante Ma Mendoza from Philippines
