Jury Members Attend the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, the opening ceremony of the 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival was held on Friday night with the presence of Oscar-winning Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) and other jury members, including Peyman Maadi. Over the next eight days, this jury will evaluate 14 debut and sophomore films and will present the “Golden Star” award at the closing ceremony.
It had previously been announced that Jenna Ortega, star of the series Wednesday; Anya Taylor-Joy, star of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Celine Song, director of Past Lives; Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz; Moroccan filmmaker Hakim Belabbes; and French director Julia Ducournau, winner of the Palme d’Or for Titane, would also serve on the jury, which is chaired by Bong Joon-ho, director of Parasite.
During the ceremony, Bong reflected on his early filmmaking years:
“Twenty-two years old. What were you doing when you were 22? Or what do you hope to do when you turn 22? At 22, as a film student, I was voraciously consuming movies. I watched three or four films a day. I wanted to make films. I wondered: why is the camera placed there? Why is the actor facing that way? Why did they cut at that moment?”
He continued:
“These were the questions that consumed me at 22. When I look back at my 22-year-old self, I see someone full of energy and passion for cinema. I feel that Marrakech, too, has a special energy as it enters its own 22nd edition.”
South Korea has won awards twice in the main competition of the Marrakech Festival. The Journals of Musan, directed by Park Jung-bum, won the “Golden Star” in 2010, and Han Gong-ju, directed by Lee Su-jin, received the same prize in 2013 when Martin Scorsese chaired the jury.
The 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival runs until December 6.
