Marrakech Film Festival

Marrakech '12: Zhang Yimou Talks Working With Christian Bale, The Growing Chinese Box Office & More

Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern," "Ju Dou," "Hero," "House of the Flying Daggers") has been making movies in his homeland of China, from within the system, for the past two and a half decades. During this time, he has witnessed, and participated in, the gradual, incremental thawing of Chinese re...

Marrakech ‘12 Review: Bahman Ghobadi’s ‘Rhino Season’ Makes Good On Neither The Politics Nor The Poetry Of Its Premise

Having caused something of a stir with his roughshod, guerilla-style 2009 docudrama about the Iranian underground music scene “No One Knows About Persian Cats,” director Bahman Ghobadi appears to have done a stylistic 180 with his new movie “Rhino Season.” Inspired by the story of a Kurdish poet fri...

Marrakech '12: Monica Bellucci On ‘Rhino Season,’ Changing Priorities & Future Projects, Including A Film For Emir Kusturica

With Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi’s ("No One Knows About Persian Cats") new film, “Rhino Season,” screening Out of Competition at the Marrakech International Film Festival (our review is to follow shortly), we got to speak with the film’s Italian star, Monica Bellucci, in a small press group. Onc...

Marrakech ‘12: James Gray Says ‘The Nightingale’ Probably Reverting Back To Original Title ‘Lowlife,’ Hopes To Premiere In Cannes 2013

With James Gray serving on the jury of the Marrakech International Film Festival this year, we were lucky enough to get some time with a director who has, in just four movies, firmly established himself as one of our very favorite filmmakers. There are a couple of further pieces to come from our tal...

Marrakech ‘12: Isabelle Huppert On Looking Back, Going Hollywood, Turning Down 'Funny Games' & More

Frequently namechecked by critics, fellow actors and directors as one of the greatest screen actors alive, French actress Isabelle Huppert is the subject of the first of a series of impressive tributes to be made at this year’s Marrakech International Film Festival. She is also being honoured here b...

Marrakech Film Festival '11: Jessica Chastain On Cannes, Overcoming Shyness And Wanting Isabelle Huppert's Career

Jessica Chastain has not had a normal year. Not so much breaking through as invading and colonizing multiplexes and arthouse theaters alike (we’ll have more on this in a special end-of-year piece coming soon), when we spoke to her during the Marrakech International Film Festival, she was nonetheless...

Marrakech Film Festival '11: Olga Kurylenko On Fighting Typecasting, Future Projects And 'Land of Oblivion'

With a lead role in Terrence Malick's upcoming untitled film and a supporting role in Martin McDonagh’s "In Bruges" follow-up "Seven Psychopaths" (read what she has to say about those projects here), Olga Kurylenko’s star is firmly in the ascendant. But these roles also mark a shift away from the lo...

Marrakech Film Festival '11: Sigourney Weaver On Auditioning For Woody Allen, 'Death And The Maiden,' & Her Passion Projects

Outside the "Avatar" and "Alien" franchises, Sigourney Weaver has worked with some top names, not least of whom, Woody Allen, who gave the actress her very first big-screen role, as "Alvy's Date Outside Theater" in "Annie Hall." Though the role is pretty m...

Marrakech Film Festival '11: Terry Gilliam Talks 3D, 'Harry Potter,' 'Watchmen' & The Inoffensiveness Of Modern Comedy