Scandar Copti’s Palestinian drama Happy Holidays took the Étoile d’Or main award at the 21st Marrakech International Film Festival.
The film, a Haifa-set drama in which a minor car accident sets off a chain of events that sow division in a patriarchal society, also received the best performance by an actress prize, shared between Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Happy Holidays is a co-production between Palestine’s Fresco Films, Germany’s Red Balloon Film, France’s Tessalit Productions and Italy’s Intramovies. It debuted in Venice’s Biennale Cinema section in September, going on to play Toronto.
The Marrakech awards were selected by a jury headed by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino.
The jury prize was shared ex aequo between Silvina Schnicer’s Argentinian title The Cottage and Mo Harawe’s Somalian film The Village Next To Paradise, the latter of which came through Marrakech’s Atlas Workshops.
Damian Kocur took the best directing prize for Under The Volcano.
A tribute was paid at the closing ceremony to late Moroccan icon Naima Elmcherqui. Yasmine Khayat, Elmcherqui’s daughter, said “Many of you have come to tell us that we are not alone, that you share our sorrow at having lost her and, above all, that you are proud, like us, to have known her, loved her and worked with her.”
Attendees at the festival this year included Beetlejuice Beetlejuice director Tim Burton; David Cronenberg; Alfonso Cuaron; Ava DuVaernay, Todd Haynes; Abderrahmane Sissako; and Sean Penn, who was also recipient of an honorary Étoile d’Or.
Three hundred Moroccan industry professionals attended the 2024 edition of the festival; with a record 40,000 attendees for festival screenings. This year’s Atlas Workshops, mentored by The Bikeriders director Jeff Nichols, presented 27 film projects in development or production.
Marrakech International Film Festival 2024 winners
Étoile d’Or – Happy Holidays (Pal-Ger-Fr-It-Qat) dir. Scandar Copti
Jury prize – The Cottage (Arg) dir. Silvina Schnicer; The Village Next To Paradise (Som) dir. Mo Harawe, ex aequo
Best directing – Damian Kocur for Under The Volcano
Best performance by an actress – Wafaa Aoun, Manar Shehab for Happy Holidays
Best performance by an actor – Roman Lutskyi for Under The Volcano
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