Rémi Bonhomme will leave his job as program manager after this year to run the 19th Marrakech Film Festival in November.
Rémi Bonhomme, program manager of Cannes' Critics' Week sidebar, has been named the new artistic director of the Marrakech International Film Festival, one of Africa's most prestigious film fests.
Bonhomme will step down after this year's festival in Cannes to focus entirely on Marrakech and the program for the 19th festival, which runs Nov. 13-21.
The French film exec has been part of the Marrakech artistic team since 2018 where he has worked both as a programmer and as head of the Atlas Workshops, an industry platform that supports cinema from Africa and the Arab world. Bonhomme will continue to act as artistic director of the Atlas Workshops alongside his new position as festival director.
Bonhomme unveiled his new festival team Monday, naming a selection committee comprising Ali Hajji of Casablanca-based A3 Groupe and Critics' Week colleges Farah-Clémentine Dramani-Issifou and Ava Cahen.
Consultants for the festival will include Andréa Picard, curator of the Toronto Film Festival's Wavelengths section and co-curator of Toronto's Platform competition, who will advise on all sections; Hania Mroué, director of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema and founder of MC Distribution Lebanon, who will focus on Arab cinema; and for the competition selection, Gabor Greiner, director of acquisitions at Films Boutique.
Thibaut Bracq, a former programmer at the Festival Premiers Plans d'Angers, will head up the Atlas Workshops program.
In addition to a strong focus on cinema from Africa and the Arab world, Marrakech prides itself on being able to attract big U.S. and international films for its gala events. Rian Johnson's star-studded murder mystery Knives Out opened last year's festival, which also included gala screenings of Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story and Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.
Oscar-winner Tilda Swinton was head of the 2019 festival jury.
