20TH edition NOVEMBER 24 TO DECEMBER 2, 2023
20th edition
November 24 to December 2, 2023
Born in Senegal, Ousmane Sembène (1923–2007) worked as a mechanic and bricklayer before being drafted into the French army during World War II. He then moved to Marseille, where he worked to educate and emancipate African immigrants. At nearly forty, Sembène received a scholarship to study filmmaking in Moscow. His work has inspired many African filmmakers and defined post-colonial Africa.
Born in Senegal, Thierno Faty Sow (1941–2009) studied filmmaking in Paris at the Conservatoire libre du cinéma français. After working in French and Senegalese television, he co-wrote and directed, with Ousmane Sembène, The Camp at Thiaroye, which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival.
The Camp at Thiaroye represents a development in the late Ousmane Sembène’s approach to cinema. The film, which Sembène wrote and directed with Thierno Faty Sow, is a forceful epic political drama, based on real events and on the directors’ own experiences. The story deals with injustice, hypocrisy, colonialism, and racism, and culminates in a massacre. The Camp at Thiaroye shows the resumption of white oppression when a regiment of West African Armed Forces soldiers returns to an army post in Senegal from the European warfront where they faced death every day, only now to face indignity and the racism of the French nationals they helped liberate from fascism.
Director Ousmane Sembène, Thierno Faty Sow
Producer Mustafa Ben Jemja, Ouzid Dahmane, Mamadou Mbengue
Screenwriter Ousmane Sembène, Thierno Faty Sow
Cinematographer Smaïl Lakhdar-Hamina
Editor Kahéna Attia
Sound Ismaël Lô
Music Ismaël Lô
Color Color
Production Company Enaproc, Films Domireew, Films Kajoor, Satpec, Société Nouvelle Pathé
International Sales Company The Film Foundation / The African Film Heritage Project
Founded by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in July 2002, the Marrakech International Film Festival Foundation is a non-profit organization of public interest.
Presided over by His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid, the Foundation has as its primary objective the organisation of the Marrakech International Film Festival and any related events, all of which aim to encourage the creation, promotion, and distribution of works of cinema throughout the Kingdom of Morocco and around the globe.
Founded by His Majesty King Mohammed VI in July 2002, the Marrakech International Film Festival Foundation is a non-profit organization of public interest.
Presided over by His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid, the Foundation has as its primary objective the organisation of the Marrakech International Film Festival and any related events, all of which aim to encourage the creation, promotion, and distribution of works of cinema throughout the Kingdom of Morocco and around the globe.