TEHRAN – Iranian actor Payman Maadi will serve as a member of the jury at the 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival which will take place from November 28 to December 6.

Composed of eight leading figures from four continents and spanning multiple generations, the festival jury is tasked with considering the 14 first and second feature films presented in an Official Competition dedicated to discovering new international talent, Honaronline reported.

Payman Maadi, 55, is an acclaimed and internationally recognized actor and filmmaker. He is the star of the Oscar-winning drama “A Separation,” by Asghar Farhadi, who received the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival for his role in the film in 2011.

He began his career as a screenwriter, earning national attention in Iran before transitioning to acting with a lead role in Asghar Farhadi’s “About Elly,” winner of the Best Narrative Feature award at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Maadi co-starred with Kristen Stewart in U.S. director Peter Sattler’s debut “Camp X-Ray” in 2014 and collaborated in Japanese director Kazuaki Kiriya’s action-adventure “Last Knights” in 2015. 

He recently starred in Anne Fontaine’s “Night Shift” (2020) and Jared Moshe’s “Aporia” (2023). His other international credits include “The Night of,” “Westworld,” “13 Hours,” and “6 Underground”. 

South Korean director Bong Joon Ho, whose film “Parasite” made history by winning the Palme d'Or, followed by four Academy Awards, chairs the jury. 

In addition to Maadi, the jury includes filmmakers and actors whose careers are a reflection of the vitality of global cinema today: Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz, who won over international audiences with “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão,” which won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Festival de Cannes; Moroccan filmmaker Hakim Belabbes, a key figure in intimate, memory-based cinema; French director Julia Ducournau, Palme d'or winner for “Titane”; US actor Jenna Ortega, star of the series “Wednesday” and the film “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” by Tim Burton; Canadian filmmaker Celine Song, director of the highly acclaimed “Past Lives”; and Anglo-Argentinian actress Anya Taylor-Joy, who rose to fame in “The Queen's Gambit” and further established herself in “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” and “Dune: Part Two”.

Established in 2001, the Marrakech International Film Festival seeks to promote cinematic arts and foster cultural exchange. By bringing together artists from a variety of complementary creative fields, the festival reaffirms its commitment to promoting the circulation of ideas and aesthetics, as well as creating a space for dialogue among cultures and generations of cinema.

This year’s edition of the festival comprises 82 films from 31 countries, presented across various sections, including the Official Competition, Gala Screenings, Horizons, the 11th Continent, and the Moroccan Panorama.

SS/SAB