The Marrakech International film festival, FIFM brought down its curtains after 9 long days of festivities with two Moroccan wins and one Palestinian win.
The awards celebration started with the category of Best performance by an actress, announced by Joel Edgerton.
It went to the young talent Asja Zara Lagumdzija for her role in « Exercursion, » an acting debut that garnered critics attention after the movie screenings, as they applauded her craft and delicate attention to the interpretation of a Bosnian teenager, being one herself.
Young actor Doga Karakas won best performance by a lead actor for starring in « Yurt ».
The directing prize went to French Senegalese Ramata Toulay Sy for « Banel et Adama ».
« This one’s for Africa, for the community, we are the future! » said the director.
FIFM jury president, Jessica Chastain said « This is the future of cinema and the world is in excellent hands » before moving on to the next awards.
For the jury prize, the festival decided to hand out two trophies.
The first went to « Hounds » by the Moroccan director Kamal Lazrak, who dedicated this prestigious win in his homeland to the lead actors.
« This one is for ‘Wlad Chaab’, Ayoub El Aid and Abdellatif Mastouri (the actors) who participated in this adventure, » said the winning director.
The night’s second jury prize went to Palestinian film « Bye bye Tiberius, » an emotional distressing documentary on loss of mothers and land.
Lead character and mother of the director Lina Soualem, Hollywood actress Hiam Abbas took the trophy in tears and thanked the Moroccan crowd for their reception of the film.
The director, Lina, couldn’t make it due to the death of her father in law. However, she sent a very heart drenching speech on the ongoing bombings in Palestine.
Lastly, the festival’s most awaited award, the Étoile d’Or went to the Moroccan docudrama « Mother of all the lies. » by Asmae El Moudir, a graduate of the festival’s Atlas Workshop, a program she thanked for giving Moroccans chances to meet international cinema professionals, and the proper funding to make high quality movies.
« This one is for the father of all Moroccans, King Mohammed VI and the prince Moulay Rachid, for creating the Atlas Workshops and the festival foundation, » said the winning director.
Asmae, fully enjoying the moment, recalled dreaming of winning the award when she used to watch the ceremony from home, holding a tea pot and picturing it as « The Étoile d’Or. »
FIFM came to an end with this ceremony, which ended in emotional cheers and immense pride to Moroccans, as Asmae El Moudir became the first Moroccan to win the Étoile d’Or, and Kamal Lazrak added one more award next to his prestigious Cannes accolade.
This edition, several master classes bridged between stars and lovers, giving the Moroccan audience an unmatched chance to get closer to their idols.
The festival paid tribute to both Mads Mikkelsen and Faouzi Bensaidi this year, two completely different artists who share the love of film, Marrakech and art.
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