To be eligible for the 10th Marrakech International Film Festival (December 3-11, 2010), films must fulfil the following conditions:

- be a feature film of at least 75 minutes.
- be shot in 35mm or with digital technology. The selected films shot with digital technology must be presented in Pal Digital Betacam tape or Pal HD Cam.

The Festival does not select short films, nor documentary films.

Deadline for submissions, using the attached entry form, is set to October 22nd, 2010.  

There is no entry fee.

All films must be submitted in DVD (PAL or NTSC) format for the selection. All non-English language films must be subtitled in English or in French. Please see “2010 Entry Form & Regulations” to fill out the form.

To the attention of Jérôme Lasserre
FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM DE MARRAKECH
c/o Le Public Système Cinéma
40, rue Anatole France
92594 Levallois-Perret Cedex
France

Tel : +33 1 41 34 20 33
Fax : +33 1 41 34 20 77
Email : jlasserre@lepublicsystemecinema.fr

The official announcement for the selection will be made in mid-November 2010. Those who are selected for a screening at the 10th Marrakech International Film Festival will be notified by e-mail prior to the announcement.

Marrakech - Following nine days of exciting and colourful programmes and events, the 9th Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) culminated with the awarding ceremony, during which the festival's jury granted the "Gold Star" to Mexican director Rigoberto Perezcano for his movie "Northless".

The festival's jury, chaired by renowned Iranian director, screenwriter and producer Abbas Kiarostami, awarded the Jury's Prize both to Belgian director Nabil Ben Yadir and to Malaysian Charlotte Lim for their movies "Les barons" and "My daughter" respectively.
   
Dutch Lotte Verbeek received the best actress prize for her role in "nothing personal" of Urszula Antoniak, while Danish Cyron Melville got the best actor prize for his role in Morten Giese’s "Love and Rage".

The closing ceremony, which was attended by cinema, arts and culture celebrities, was marked by the screening of "The double hour" of Giuseppe Capotondi.

The red city, which hosted the kings and queens of cinema on December 4-12, saw off its visitors coming from around the world to celebrate the seventh art in a meeting that has established itself as a venue for world cinema.

The 15 movies participating in the official competition represent 15 nationalities, including Morocco which was represented by "The Man Who Sold the World" of Swel and Imad Noury.

The other movies are Luca Guadagnino’s "Io Sono L'amore (I'm Love)" (Italy), Nabil Ben Yadir’s “les barons (barons)” (Belgium), Javier Rebollo’s "Woman Without Piano"(Spain), Matsumoto Hitoshi’s “symbol” (Japan), KIM Tai-sik’s “Tokyo Taxi” (South Korea), Dagur Kari’s “The Good Heart” (USA), Ahmad Abdallah ‘s "Heliopolis"(Egypt), Enrique Buchichio’s "Leo's Room"(Uruguay), Morten Giese ‘s "Love and Rage" (Denmark), Charlotte Lim’s “My Daughter” (Malaysia), Rigoberto Perezcano’s "Northless" (Mexique), Urszula Antoniak’s "Nothing Personal" (Netherlands), Léa Fehner’s “"Qu'un Seul tienne et les autres Suivront (Silent Voices)” (France), and  Nosir  Saidov’s "True Noon" (Tadjikstan).

Chaired by Kiarostami, this year’s jury included French actress Fanny Ardant, Palestinian director Elia Suleiman, Italian actress Isabella Ferrari, French director,  Christophe Honore, Spanish actress Marisa Paredes, British director Mike Figgis, Indian actress Nandita Das, Argentinean director Pablo Trapero, and Moroccan dancer, choreographer and director Lahcen Zinoun.

The FIFM's 9th edition paid tribute to the 100-year-old Korean cinema.   

Previous editions of this international artistic event paid tribute to Morocco in 2004, Spain in 2005, Italy in 2006, Egypt in 2007 and Britain in 2008.

"Love and Rage" by Danish filmmaker Morten Giese was screened as part of the films in competition at the 9th International Film Festrival of Marrakech.

The depths of the human soul are the source of inspiration of film-makers around the world. In "Love and Rage," Morten Giese portrays Daniel, an extremely talented piano student aiming for an international career. One day, Daniel (Cyron Bjørn Melville, who won the ‘Best Actor’ award at Montreal this year) falls in love with Sofie (Sara Hjortand) moves in with her, and for the first time Daniel's life is not all music. The problem with Daniel is his anguish, nervousness and his chronic insecurity; meeting together they cause a serious treat to his career. Therefore, his life is not devoted solely to the piano, and gradually the situation will be complicated by the romantic adventure of his teacher with his own mother, the fears of his father (a talented pianist, who also suffered from neurological problems) who committed suicide a year ago and his own morbid jealousy. Despite this handicap, driven by his piano teacher Pierre (Dejan Cukic), he finally decides to confront his fears and to attend a concert that would open the door to the prestigious Julliard School in New York. Apparently out of nowhere, rage interrupts love, as Daniel begins to suffer from increasingly violent anxiety attacks and paranoid bursts. He becomes convinced that Pierre, his music teacher, has wooed Sofie, and his life descends into turmoil as his mental health rapidly declines. Morten Giese, director and script writer of the film, presented with finesse and sensitivity the slippages related to nervousness, claustrophobia, paranoia and jealousy. His view leaves room to the understanding and interpretation of the viewer.

Combining skilfully cagey cinematography and editing alongside haunting sound design, Love and Rage makes for a harrowing, claustrophobic watch. Giese traps us within Daniel’s fragile mind, to the extent that we’re unsure whether Sofie’s infidelity is imaginary or not, an ambiguity which remains unresolved. “With wonderful craftsmanship, Love and Rage transforms a grave, dark theme into a poignant piece of art.”

"The Good Heart" by Dagur Kari was screened as part of the films in competition at the 9th International Film Festrival of Marrakech.

Lucas (Paul Dano) has come to an existential dead-end. He is young and homeless, living in a cardboard box under the Brooklyn Bridge. With total lack of prospects for the future, Lucas tries to commit suicide, but the attempt is a failure like everything else in his life. Recuperating in hospital, Lucas is forced to share a room with Jaques (Brian Cox), a grouchy old bar-owner whose unhealthy lifestyle has resulted in no fewer than five heart attacks. With no family and high risk of passing away any minute, Jaques takes Lucas under his wing with the intention of passing on his legacy. Lucas moves in and begins a hectic learning process in a bar with its own set of rules and philosophies. Against all odds, Jacques and Lucas form a quirky friendship. Everything seems to be going according to plan. Until one rainy night when April (Isild Le Besco), a drunken stewardess, strays into the bar. Lucas is unable to turn this beautiful stranger away and invites her to stay.

This poses a dramatic threat to Jacques’ plans and from the point on, things can only go wrong. Dagur Kari was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, to Icelandic parents, Kari moved to Iceland at the age of 3 and was raised there. He studied film directing in Copenhagen from 1995 to 1999. His graduation film Lost Weekend won many international awards. Kari’s first feature Noi Albino was released in 2003 and was a worldwide art-house hit. His second feature Dark Horse premiered in Cannes in Un Certain Regard, 2005. Kari is also a musician and has been a member of the duo slow blow since 1994. They have released several albums and composed the soundtracks to all Kari’s films.