Marrakech Film Festival

To mark the tenth year of the International Film Festival of Marrakech, Moroccan royal and cinephile King Mohammed VI flew in a clutch of Hollywood players. Filmmakers Roberto de Paolis and Carlo Lavagna were there to capture the guest list in a film shot exclusively for NOWNESS. Highlights from the experience: lunch with actor Gaspard Ulliel (“He hadn’t slept the night before because he was partying til 8am with the French delegation,” says De Paolis); a carpet-buying tour of Marrakech’s souks with model Jamie Bochert and Boardwalk Empire actor Michael Pitt; and an audience with Harvey Keitel, who was last in Morocco in 1987 when filming Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. While festival jury head John Malkovich kept the assembled entertained with philosophical digressions and wine, it was the city itself that proved most enchanting, particularly the sunset screenings held in the ancient market square of Djemaa el Fna. “You could stand and watch these movies amongst the snake charmers, storytellers, monkeys and street musicians,” De Paolis reminisces. “It was an amazing atmosphere.” See the pair's extended filmed interview with godfather of cinema Francis Ford Coppola, here.