The beloved Italian-American filmmaker will also be patron, looking over the 6th edition of the Atlas Workshops.

Martin Scorsese’s name has been synonymous with American cinema for the past five decades. Since his 1976 undisputed hit Taxi Driver, which also launched the career of frequent collaborator actor Robert De Niro, Scorsese has been making films that influence the consciousness of audiences worldwide but also helped create a groundbreaking movement of filmmakers who defy convention.

I heard Scorsese speak, up-close and personal, back in NYC when Spike Lee would hold monthly meetups that saw him moderating talks with filmmakers, actors and film world insiders at Brooklyn College. To say that his words held infinite wisdom is a bit of an understatement. Scorsese speaks fast, his brain thinking even faster and what he knows about the history of cinema is an encyclopedia of its own. Through the organization he founded, The Film Foundation, he has helped to restore some of the classics to their original beauty so audience of the future can learn from the past. If one name conjures up “love of cinema” it is Martin Scorsese so kudos to the Moroccan festival for securing his priceless presence at the upcoming edition.

“ I am always happy to be returning to my beloved Marrakech Film Festival—when I haven’t been able to attend in person, I’ve always been there in spirit. For this very special anniversary edition of the festival, I have been entrusted with a precious task: to interact with young filmmakers and help to guide them on their way. I look forward to seeing old friends, and to making new ones,” Scorsese said in a statement. In fact, the filmmaker, whose latest film is the highly anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon starring Leonardo Di Caprio, already served on the jury in Marrakech in 2013 and presented a special award to Robert De Niro there in 2018.

The 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival takes place from 24 November to 2 December 2023. The Atlas Workshop will run concurrently with the festival and is an industry talent development program launched in 2018 by the Marrakech International Film Festival. It supports the emergence of a new generation of Moroccan, Arab, and African filmmakers and creates a space and environment for exchanges between international professionals and regional talent. Scorsese has also agreed to take on the role of Patron of the 6th edition of the Atlas Workshops and is the first major artist invited to be the patron of the workshops, to lend his name to this year’s cohort of filmmakers.

Scorsese will take part in several sessions with the project teams in attendance and in doing so, the director will inaugurate a new tradition at the Marrakech International Film Festival. Annually, a major figure of world cinema will be invited to be the patron of the Atlas Workshops. Each year's cohort of participants will bear the name of that year’s patron.

As such, 2023’s Atlas Workshop filmmakers will be the Class of Martin Scorsese. And having that name on your project certainly opens doors!

For more information on Marrakech IFF, check out their website.