{"id":3577,"date":"2025-12-04T14:21:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:21:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/?p=3577"},"modified":"2025-12-04T14:23:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:23:04","slug":"following-the-marrakech-international-film-festival-are-we-finally-growing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/following-the-marrakech-international-film-festival-are-we-finally-growing-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the Marrakech International Film Festival\u2026 Are We Finally Growing Up?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4152\" data-end=\"4426\">There is a different energy around the Marrakech International Film Festival this year. It\u2019s not about the celebrities, or the glitter, or the predictable social-media noise. It\u2019s something subtler\u2014a cultural shift you can feel if you take a step back and pay attention.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4428\" data-end=\"4726\">Jamal Khnoussi\u2019s Facebook post might seem like another festival impression among thousands. But if you read it slowly, it becomes something else: a small but meaningful marker of change.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4428\" data-end=\"4726\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"x1ejq31n x18oe1m7 x1sy0etr xstzfhl x6ikm8r x10wlt62\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjamal.khanoussi%2Fposts%2Fpfbid06AasWM6x3CxUpZPjpbrUyKUJxPEE3CP2v3G2Y43rfE3qeLhkAQYDxv9RN6A4svpol&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"521\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4428\" data-end=\"4726\">A sign that Morocco is starting to talk about cinema the way one talks about an art form\u2014not a spectacle.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4728\" data-end=\"4806\"><strong data-start=\"4732\" data-end=\"4806\">1. When conversations move from the margins to the heart of the matter<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"4807\" data-end=\"5004\">For years, festival talk was dominated by peripheral chatter: Who got invited? Who didn\u2019t? Who took a photo with which Hollywood star? So much noise that the films themselves were overshadowed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5006\" data-end=\"5222\">This year feels different. People are arguing about a Nigerian film versus a Moroccan one.<br data-start=\"5098\" data-end=\"5101\" \/>They\u2019re questioning directing choices, story structures, and performances. They\u2019re disagreeing\u2014seriously, passionately.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5224\" data-end=\"5317\">This shift is not cosmetic. It is a sign that something in the collective gaze is maturing.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5319\" data-end=\"5404\"><strong data-start=\"5323\" data-end=\"5404\">2. The criticism workshops: seemingly small, but fundamentally transformative<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5405\" data-end=\"5587\">One of the most striking points Khnoussi raises is the workshop led by Charles Tesson.<br data-start=\"5491\" data-end=\"5494\" \/>Five days of watching, discussing, debating\u2026 open to students, journalists, young cinephiles.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5589\" data-end=\"5689\">It may sound like a technical detail, but it\u2019s not.<br data-start=\"5640\" data-end=\"5643\" \/>It is <strong data-start=\"5649\" data-end=\"5688\">the beginning of a critical culture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5691\" data-end=\"5865\">A festival that teaches people how to look, how to read an image, how to form a thought and defend it\u2014 that is a festival investing in the future, not only in the moment.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5867\" data-end=\"5931\"><strong data-start=\"5871\" data-end=\"5931\">3. Critics, journalists, cinephiles: a necessary tension<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"5932\" data-end=\"6029\">There\u2019s no point pretending these groups always agree.<br data-start=\"5986\" data-end=\"5989\" \/>They don\u2019t, and that\u2019s the beauty of it.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6031\" data-end=\"6187\">\n<li data-start=\"6031\" data-end=\"6052\">\n<p data-start=\"6033\" data-end=\"6052\">Critics dig deep.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"6053\" data-end=\"6098\">\n<p data-start=\"6055\" data-end=\"6098\">Journalists tell the story of the moment.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"6099\" data-end=\"6134\">\n<p data-start=\"6101\" data-end=\"6134\">Cinephiles argue from instinct.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"6135\" data-end=\"6187\">\n<p data-start=\"6137\" data-end=\"6187\">Social media democratizes the entire conversation.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6189\" data-end=\"6298\">The friction among these worlds is not a bug.<br data-start=\"6234\" data-end=\"6237\" \/>It is the beating heart of any cultural event worth its name.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6300\" data-end=\"6385\"><strong data-start=\"6304\" data-end=\"6385\">4. The uncontrolled conversation: the best thing that can happen to Marrakech<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6386\" data-end=\"6558\">What\u2019s most refreshing about this edition is precisely what wasn\u2019t planned:<br data-start=\"6461\" data-end=\"6464\" \/>the spontaneous debates, the disagreements, the impassioned defenses and demolitions of films.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6560\" data-end=\"6795\">The love\/hate reactions to \u201cThe Sixth,\u201d<br data-start=\"6599\" data-end=\"6602\" \/>the sudden enthusiasm for certain films,<br data-start=\"6642\" data-end=\"6645\" \/>the stubborn resistance to others\u2014<br data-start=\"6679\" data-end=\"6682\" \/>all of this signals one thing:<br data-start=\"6712\" data-end=\"6715\" \/>the festival is finally producing <strong data-start=\"6749\" data-end=\"6771\">real cultural life<\/strong>, not staged enthusiasm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6797\" data-end=\"6882\">A festival grows not when it shines, but when it provokes thought and disagreement.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6884\" data-end=\"6945\"><strong data-start=\"6888\" data-end=\"6945\">5. The real question: what do we do with this moment?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"6946\" data-end=\"7018\">Moments like this don\u2019t last on their own.<br data-start=\"6988\" data-end=\"6991\" \/>They need to be cultivated.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7020\" data-end=\"7245\">\n<li data-start=\"7020\" data-end=\"7048\">\n<p data-start=\"7022\" data-end=\"7048\">Keep the training going.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"7049\" data-end=\"7098\">\n<p data-start=\"7051\" data-end=\"7098\">Bring young critics into the official spaces.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"7099\" data-end=\"7158\">\n<p data-start=\"7101\" data-end=\"7158\">Connect Marrakech with Africa\u2019s broader film ecosystem.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"7159\" data-end=\"7245\">\n<p data-start=\"7161\" data-end=\"7245\">Protect the emerging culture of debate from falling back into shallow controversies.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"7247\" data-end=\"7353\">This year feels like a turning point.<br data-start=\"7284\" data-end=\"7287\" \/>If we\u2019re wise, it could become the foundation of something bigger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is a different energy around the Marrakech International Film Festival this year. It\u2019s not about the celebrities, or the glitter, or the predictable social-media noise. It\u2019s something subtler\u2014a cultural shift you can feel if you take a step back and pay attention. Jamal Khnoussi\u2019s Facebook post might seem like another festival impression among thousands. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,109,110,121],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-22nd-edition-of-the-marrakech-international-film-festival","category-cinema-diplomacy","category-cultural-diplomacy","category-cultural-diplomatic-analysis-of-artistic-texts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3579,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3577\/revisions\/3579"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diplomatique.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}