Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy The Debut will open the 23rd Marrakech International Film Festival, taking place in Morocco from November 20 to 28. The film stars Julianne Moore as a shy housewife who discovers a passion for amateur theater.

The festival will screen 76 films from 39 countries across its Official Competition, Gala Screenings, Horizons, the 11th Continent, Moroccan Panorama, Cinema for Young Audiences & Families and Tributes sections.

Fourteen first and second features will compete for the Étoile d’Or in the Official Competition, with Marion Cotillard serving as jury president. The lineup includes Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo’s Ben’imana, Abdallah Al-Khatib’s Chronicles from the Siege and Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu’s House of the Wind. The three films have received recognition at Cannes, the Berlinale and Venice, respectively.

Three Official Competition titles will have their world premieres in Marrakech: Yassine Marco Marroccu’s Alkebulan, set in the Sahara in the 1960s and Italy in the 1930s; Farzad Samsami’s Waves of Silence, a moral drama about migrant shipwrecks; and Rani and Salem Massalha’s Cairo Shadows, a thriller set within Egypt’s Coptic Christian community.

The Gala Screenings will begin with The Debut and include the world premieres of Fellipe Barbosa’s Leila et la nuit and Omar Hilal’s His Weakest Creatures. Leila et la nuit is inspired by the life of Moroccan photographer Leila Alaoui and stars Roschdy Zem and Marina Foïs. His Weakest Creatures brings Egyptian actors Ahmed Helmy and Hend Sabry together on screen for the first time.

Other Gala selections include Noah Segan’s The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, starring John Turturro; Laïla Marrakchi’s Strawberries, Morocco’s submission to the Oscars; James Gray’s Paper Tiger; and Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial.

The Horizons section will feature Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner Fjord, alongside Arab titles including Mohammed Hammad’s Safe Exit, Sara Ishaq’s The Station and Ahmed Hassouna’s Citizen Osama. The 11th Continent will present 13 films focused on free and innovative cinema, including works by Danielle Arbid, Sompot Chidgasornpongse and Radu Jude, as well as the documentaries Edward Said: Between Worlds and Bedeau, Transit Camp, which will have its world premiere.

The Moroccan Panorama will screen six fiction and documentary films, including Tala Hadid’s Bardi and three world premieres: Mohamed Mouftakir’s Hoods, Mouhssine El Badaoui’s Banou and Zhor Fassi-Fihri’s Man of Signs. In total, 11 Moroccan films will appear across the festival’s sections, in addition to three films shot in Morocco.

The Cinema for Young Audiences & Families program will offer 11 screenings for children, teenagers and families. It includes Philippe Riche’s animated film Girl in the Clouds, presented by Jamel Debbouze, and the world premiere of Mohcine Besri’s All But My Mother, starring Omar Lotfi and Abdellah Didane.

Sources: Deadline.