Marrakech Winners: Palestinian Drama ‘Happy Holidays’ Wins Best Film
Palestinian director Scandar Copti’s drama Happy Holidays has clinched the Étoile d’Or for Best Film at the Marrakech Film Festival.
The Jury Prize was awarded ex aequo to Argentinian director Silvina Schnicer’s The Cottage and Somali and Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise. Damian Kocur won the Best Directing Prize for his Under the Volcano, which is Poland’s Oscar entry this year.
The prize for Best Performance by an Actress was shared this year by Wafaa Aoun and Manar Shehab for their performances in Happy Holidays, while Roman Lutskyi won award for Best Performance by an Actor for his work in Kocur’s Under the Volcano.
Happy Holidays is a contemporary Haifa-set drama in which a minor car accident sets off a chain of events, unraveling lies and unspoken truths that sow division within a multifaceted patriarchal society.
This year’s star-studded jury was presided over by Luca Guadagnino and also featured Iranian director Ali Abbasi, Indian director Zoya Akhtar, US actor Patricia Arquette, Belgian actor Virginie Efira, Australian actor Jacob Elordi, British-US actor Andrew Garfield, Moroccan actor Nadia Kounda, and Argentinian director Santiago Mitre.
This festival’s 21st edition – running from November 29 to December 7 – was attended by a record 40,000 spectators, including 7,500 children and teenagers as part of the Young Audiences and Families program.
Other highlights of the festival included tributes to Sean Penn, David Cronenberg and late Moroccan actress Naïma Elmcherqui, who died just weeks before this year’s edition.
Penn delivered was characteristically outspoken as he received his award on the opening weekend, calling on the cinema world to ditch political correctness, saying: “I encourage everyone to be politically incorrect, to embrace diversity, and to keep telling stories.”
Beyond the jury and honorees a raft of A-list talent attended this year’s edition to participate in conversation events: including Tim Burton; Alfonso Cuarón, Ava DuVernay, Todd Haynes; Justin Kurzel, whose new film, The Order, opened the festival; Mohammad Rasoulof; Walter Salles and Justine Triet among others.
