Festival Programme My account

20TH edition NOVEMBER 24 TO DECEMBER 2, 2023

DIRECTOR

LAÏLA MARRAKCHI

MOROCCO

Biography

Laïla Marrakchi was born and raised in Casablanca. She studied in Paris at the École
Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle and holds a master’s degree in film from Paris 8
University Vincennes-Saint-Denis.
Marock (2005), her first feature-length film, was presented
at the Festival de Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. The acclaimed love story between
two Muslim and Jewish teenagers in Casablanca was a great success and has become a
classic of Moroccan culture.
Her second film, Rock the Casbah (2013), features a prestigious
cast including Hiam Abbass, Nadine Labaki, Lubna Azabal, Morjana Alaoui and Omar Sharif.

For television, Marrakchi directed five episodes of The Bureau and two episodes of Damien
Chazelle’s The Eddy.
She has recently collaborated on the Franco-Belgian production Opera.
Currently, Marrakchi is working on her next feature-length film, La Más Dulce, which looks at
the plight of female Moroccan workers in Spain, and developing the series Casa Girls, which
examines the tribulations of four young women in contemporary Casablanca.

Director, Screenwriter

L’Opéra (TV; 2021)

The Eddy (TV; 2020)

The Bureau (TV; 2015–2018)

Marseille (TV; 2018)

Zwaj El Waqt (TV; documentary; 2017)

*Rock the Casbah (2013)

*Marock (2005)—Audience Award, Sarlat
International Cinema Festival

*Momo Mambo (short; 2003)

*Deux cents dirhams (short; 2002)—Diploma of Merit,
Tampere Film Festival

L’Horizon perdu (short; 2000)—Prize of
the City of Torino, Cipputi Award, Torino Film Festival

* Also writer