Justin Kurzel’s ‘The Order’ To Open Marrakech Film Festival Amid Diverse Global Lineup

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) star Jude Law’s latest crime thriller, The Order, directed by Justin Kurzel, who recently directed Nitram (2021), is set to open the Marrakech International Film Festival. Law and producer Stuart Ford will be in attendance at the festival, running from November 29 to December 7 in the historic city of Marrakech. The festival plans to present a diverse lineup of over 70 films, ranging from renowned titles to emerging works.

As part of the gala screenings, The Order, featuring Law as an FBI agent on a mission to take down neo-Nazi terrorists, joins other anticipated titles. Highlights include Everybody Loves Touda (2024), a feminist musical drama by French-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch; I’m Still Here by Walter Salles; and Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig. Each screening will be accompanied by its director, adding to the event’s expansive experience.

The festival’s competition lineup will feature 14 titles this year. Standout entries include Sudan, Remember Us, a documentary by Hind Meddeb honoring Sudanese culture and its 2019 revolution; Across the Sea, a melodrama by Moroccan director Saïd Hamich Benlarbi, who also directed Rebel which released in 2022, focusing on North African exiles in Marseilles; and The Village Next to Paradise, directed by Mo Harawe, notable as the first Somali film to premiere at Cannes. Other notable entries include Under the Volcano by Polish director Damian Kocur, following a Ukrainian family in Spain, and The Wolves Always Come at Night by Gabrielle Brady, which documents a Mongolian family’s struggle against extreme winters. Brady also directed the 2018 documentary Island of the Hungry Ghosts.

Among the celebrity appearances, The Bikeriders director Jeff Nichols will mentor emerging filmmakers at the festival’s Atlas Workshops. The jury, led by Luca Guadagnino, includes notable names like Iranian director Ali Abbasi, and Indian filmmaker Zoya Akhtar, as well as American actors such as Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) and Spiderman star Andrew Garfield.

With free screenings and masterclasses, the Marrakech International Film Festival continues to distinguish itself as one of the few global festivals of this scale offering accessible cinematic experiences to the public, marking it as a unique cultural fixture in Morocco.