From September 22 to October 2, the MedFilm Festival will bring contemporary Italian cinema to Morocco.
The initiative is organized by the Embassy of Italy in Morocco, with the collaboration of the Italian Cultural Institute in Rabat, the Methexis Onlus Association, and the HIBA Foundatio
Created in 1995 and now in its 28th edition, the MedFilm Festival is the first festival specializing in the dissemination of Mediterranean cinema to promote intercultural dialogue and cooperation between Europe and the countries of the southern shore of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The “MedFilmFestival in Morocco” initiative will take place on 22-25 September at Esav, the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels in Marrakech, and then from September 29 to October 2 at the Renaissance cinema in Rabat.
The festival will open with the screening of “Ennio,” a movie by Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore dedicated to Maestro Ennio Morricone. Other films include Gianfranco Pannone‘s “Leave the Saints Alone,” Jonas Carpignano‘s “A Chiara,” dedicated to the southern Italian region of Calabria, and “Ariaferma,” a movie on Italy’s jail system directed by Leonardo Di Costanzo and starring Silvio Orlando and Toni Servillo.
“By promoting great Italian and Mediterranean cinema, we want to open a window of opportunity for Moroccan audiences and professionals,” explains Italian Ambassador to Morocco Armando Barucco. Ambassador Barucco will inaugurate the festival along with artistic director Ginella Vocca, director Gianfranco Pannone and actress Swamy Rotolo. “Thanks to a centuries-old film industry, Italy wants to be at the forefront of training new Moroccan filmmakers,” he added.
The “MedFilm Festival in Morocco” initiative is part of an articulated effort to promote Italian cinema in Morocco. The project started in May with an initiative dedicated to the “New Italian Cinema,” held at the Renaissance Cinema in Rabat and, after this double date in Marrakech and Rabat, will continue in October in Essaouira with the first edition of the “La Dolce Vita in Mogador” festival.Mogador“.
As the Italian Embassy explained, this event represents an opportunity to renew the cooperation and friendship between Italy and Morocco, which share a common heritage of values, among which the preservation and development of culture are crucial.
