La Mamounia is the mythical hotel in Marrakech, opened in 1923 and mixing the Art Deco style with traditional Moroccan architecture. The successive juries of the Marrakech International Film Festival are housed and pampered there like roosters in dough. Magnificent gardens, sumptuous decor, reminiscences of the past in drops of atmosphere. Winston Churchill established his winter quarters there to recharge his batteries and paint watercolors, exhibited these days in a closed suite of the palace, with no possible access. Misery ! In 1956, Alfred Hitchcock filmed there (as elsewhere in the city) The man who knew too much, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. Yves Saint-Laurent lived there for a long time with Pierre Bergé, before acquiring ownership of the Majorelle garden. The Rolling Stones had a blast there. Paul McCartney took his ease there. A real hall of fame.
It is in a café in this oasis that we meet the warm Italian Paolo Sorrentino, president of the festival jury. Oscar winner of The big beauty tastes the magic of cinema, burns to discover new forms. Other members of the jury give priority first to subjects linked to social changes. Culture shock ? But yes.
“Historic events like the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine changed the world,” he says, “but that doesn’t make for better movies. We are going through a period of confusion, and society is struggling to understand artists. What is our place, our mission? I am an anachronism. I am interested in human nature. »
Sorrentino had made his last film, God’s hand, for Netflix. In the future, he intends to turn to the big screen, just to participate in the revival of well-damaged rooms. “In the cinema, we present blockbusters, but also works by established filmmakers. Young directors have less access to it, but when I started, we had trouble editing our films. Other paths are available to beginners, with platforms. Nothing is black or white. » His series, like The Young Pope and The New Pope, he specifies that he shot them cinema-style, not knowing how to do anything else. As for God’s handautobiographical, less exuberant than his great beauty and Youth, it will have allowed him to refine his style. “We had tried in vain to keep the usual way. This intimate subject called for a simpler treatment. His projects, no question of revealing them. The famous Neapolitan may one day fulfill his dream of directing a james bond. Until then, he will go where his instincts lead him: “I have an inner world. My only religion is imagination,” smiles Sorrentino with all his teeth. Like a free man.
Homosexuality is criminalized in Morocco. Without sweeping it away, of course. True taboo subject, arousing deep unease among a good part of the population. So, no, The Blue of the Caftan, by Maryam Touzani, the only Moroccan film in competition, will not be distributed in its homeland. It will have to rely on foreign distribution. The firebrand addresses the question that kills, over there, but with so much subtlety, delicacy that one remains bewitched. This delicate portrait of a couple of traditional caftan tailors (formidable Lubna Azabal and Saleh Bakri) whose destiny changes when an attractive young apprentice arrives is thrillingly sensitive. It offers meticulous images of the profession, but also a touching, modest, moving love triangle. In the room, some Moroccans came out after homosexual scenes, yet barely sketched. Others stood up to applaud such a luminous work on such a puzzling subject. Cheer !
Due to scheduling conflicts, it is impossible to see all the films of the race, but the selection is of a good standard, on its dark themes, because the world is in bad shape.
Oil, by Australian Alena Lodkina, is a gem. This story of a woman who encounters the ghost of her dead sister has Bergmanian sides (personas), a grace and a mystery that enchanted moviegoers. Others confessed to not having understood anything. Such is life.
As for the remarkable Autobiography, by the Indonesian Makbul Mubarak, on high-flying images and exquisite fogs, it immerses us in the universe of the young Rakib, adopted by a retired general. During his mentor’s election campaign, the boy discovers his violence and revolts. In the background, a hydroelectric company steals land from farmers. This poignant work could be awarded a prize by the jury. Many films will reconcile the supporters of social denunciation and lovers of cinematographic language. Sorrentino can rest easy. The cinema still has rich hours ahead of it.