Robert De Niro to be celebrated at Marrakech Film Festival
‘Between Two Waters’ wins Golden Shell
LOS ANGELES, Oct 1, (RTRS): Robert De Niro will be celebrated with a special tribute at the 17th edition of the Marrakech Film Festival.
“Although I have been to Marrakech on several occasions, I feel I am now seeing a side of Marrakech I have always wanted to see,” said the Oscar-winning actor. “I am most grateful for this invitation, and am looking forward to being a part of a great festival.”
De Niro’s next project is “The Irishman”, directed by Martin Scorsese, which their ninth collaboration. The pair are producing the film together. Now in post, the anticipated Netflix movie also stars Al Pacino and Jesse Plemons.
De Niro won an Oscar for best supporting actor for Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather: Part II”, and an Oscar for best actor for Scorsese’s “Raging Bull”.
De Niro also runs his production company, Tribeca Productions, as well as the Tribeca Film Festival, which he founded with Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff. His production credits include “A Bronx Tale” and “The Good Shepherd” (both of which he directed), as well as “The Wizard of Lies” and the “Meet the Parents” franchise.
As previously announced by the festival, American director James Grey will preside over Marrakech’s competition jury. His latest film “Ad Astra” with Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones will be released early next year. His previous movie, “The Lost City of Z”, was released in the US by Amazon Studios and Bleecker Street.
After being interrupted in 2017, the Marrakech festival is back this year with a new programming team led by Christoph Terhechte, the former head of the Berlin Film Festival’s Forum section. Terhechte’s programming team at Marrakech comprises Ali Hajji, the festival’s former general coordinator; Rasha Salti, who has worked for various festivals, including Abu Dhabi and Toronto; Anke Leweke, a film critic who is a longtime member of Berlin’s selection committee; and Remi Bonhomme, general coordinator of Cannes’ Critics’ Week.
The Marrakech festival is run by a foundation presided by Morocco’s Prince Moulay Rachid, the brother of King Mohammed VI.
The 17th edition of the festival will take place from Nov 30 to Dec 8.
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Isaki Lacuesta’s “Between Two Waters” won big at San Sebastian, taking its top Golden Shell, the second time the Catalan director has won the award, after 2011’s “The Double Steps”.
Otherwise, the big winner of the night was Benjamin Naishtat’s covert violence thriller “Rojo”, which took director, actor (Dario Grandinetti) and cinematography (Pedro Sotero).
This year’s edition saw a a hugely-raised Hollywood star quotient, a half score or more of A-list talent hailing into town to tub-thump titles: Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”), Ryan Gosling (“First Man”), Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”), Robert Pattinson (“High Life”), Chris Hemsworth Times at the El Royale”), John C. Reilly (“The Sisters Brothers”).
As Venice becomes ever more an Oscar platform, movies will now hit San Sebastian three weeks later, often off Toronto, their stars in tow, to capitalize on and push their potential Academy Award glory.
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Zhang Yimou’s moody, monochrome, action drama “Shadow” is the strong favorite in the annual Golden Horse Awards race. The awards, operated from Taiwan, celebrate the best films in Chinese language variants.
“Shadow”, which premiered in prestigious slots in the Venice and Toronto film festivals last month, collected 12 nominations. These included nominations for best film and for best director.
Taiwanese drama, “Dear Ex” about the manipulations revealed by a man’s altered will, collected the second highest nominations total, with eight. The film premiered at the Udine festival in April and won several prizes at the Taipei festival in June. It is next set for festival play in Busan, and heads for commercial release next month. “Dying to Survive” collected seven nominations.
The five contenders for the best film prize are “Shadow”, “Dear Ex”, mainland Chinese hit “Dying to Survive”, “Long Day’s Journey into Night” and “An Elephant Sitting Still” which premiered in Berlin after the suicide of its director Hu Bo.