Luca Guadagnino Replaces Thomas Vinterberg as Marrakech Jury President

Luca Guadagnino will preside over the jury of the upcoming Marrakech International Film Festival, replacing Thomas Vinterberg, who had previously been appointed president of the fest’s jury but “had to excuse himself for family reasons,” according to a festival statement.

The fest also announced that Guadagnino will be joined by a top notch roster of fellow jurors comprising: Iranian director Ali Abbasi; Indian director Zoya Akhtar; American actor Patricia Arquette; Belgian actor Virginie Efira; Australian actor Jacob Elordi; British-American actor Andrew Garfield; Moroccan actor Nadia Kounda, and Argentine director Santiago Mitre.

“I will never forget the first time I arrived in Marrakech: it must’ve been more than 20 years ago, when I was a guest of my friend Valentina Cervi, who was sitting on the jury of the short film competition,” Guadagnino said in a statement.

“I had never been to Morocco before but my Algerian mother grew up there and moved to Casablanca at the age of five. The first time I landed in the great city of Marrakech it was because of this amazing festival and since then for me the City and Cinema are indissolubly connected,” he added.

“My Arab DNA is really, really engraved in the amazing powers of the festival of Marrakech and it is a tremendous honor to lead a wonderful jury for the 21st edition—I am thrilled to see all the great movies and to meet all the great filmmakers participating this year,” further noted Guadagnino. His latest film “Queer,” starring Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, goes on release on Nov. 27 in the U.S..

The 21st edition of the fest, which has close ties with the crème de la crème of global auteurs, is set to run Nov. 29 to Dec. 7 in the ancient Moroccan city.