Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Debut,” starring Julianne Moore as a shy housewife who is cast in a community theater musical and transforms into a zealous Method actor, has been set as the opening film of the 23rd Marrakech International Film Festival.
Eisenberg and Moore are both expected to be on hand for the out-of-competition gala.
Other Marrakech gala screenings include two world premieres: Brazilian director Fellipe Barbosa’s “Leila et la nuit,” inspired by the life of Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui and starring Roschdy Zem and Marina Foïs; and Egyptian helmer Omar Hilal’s “His Weakest Creatures,” which pairs Egyptian stars Ahmed Helmy and Hend Sabry together on screen for the first time.
John Turturro will be making the trek to present Noah Segan’s “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York,” in which the actor delivers a standout performance as an aging pickpocket contending with the contemporary world. The section also includes Laïla Marrakchi’s “Strawberries,” which has been selected as Morocco’s Oscars entry and follows a group of Moroccan seasonal laborers hired to pick strawberries in Spain who decide to stand up to their abusive employers.
Marrakech competition entries that have surfaced elsewhere, and will be having their regional premiers comprise Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s post-genocide drama “Ben’imana,” that premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes; Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib’s “Chronicles From the Siege” depicting desperation of Palestinian lives on the front lines; Rafiki Fariala’s Cannes standout title “Congo Boy” about the musical dreams of a young Congolese refugee; and Lebanese director Rami Kodeih’s bank-heist thriller “Furies” that delves into the Lebanese economic crisis.
