Next month from 2nd – 10th December Marrakesh will be filled with even more glamour than usual when internationally acclaimed film directors, film stars, cast and crew arrive for the 16th Annual International Film Festival of Marrakesh.
Designed to create an intercultural bridge between nations, last year there were more than 94,000 guests in attendance with notables including Martin Scorsese, Gemma Arterton and Monica Bellucci. This year they pay tribute to the legendary French actress Isabelle Adjani, as well as celebrated director Paul Verhoeven, and Japanese film director Shinya Tsukamoto. Celebrating the best in Arabic and African film and cinema, 2016 also plays homage to Russian cinema, with a delegation of Russian artists on hand to presents this year’s cinematography awards. Indeed, this year promises to be rather special, with Marrakesh’s famed Jemaa El-Fnaa main square turned into a huge open air cinema.
Since its first edition in 2001, the stunning and iconic Es Saadi Resort has partnered with Marrakesh’s International Film Festival, opening its doors to its superstar attendees as a luxurious home base from which to enjoy the weeklong festival. Es Saadi Marrakesh Resort acts as the hub for festival attendee activity, providing space for meetings, press conferences, and interviews. Also providing evenings of elevated gastronomic Moroccan cuisine, the Es Saadi hosts an annual gourmet dinner for Jury members esteemed restaurant La Cour des Lions in the Palace Es Saadi.
Es Saadi, means “Le Bienheureux” or “The happy one”, and was created in 1966 by owner and founder Jean Bauchet, who developed Paris’ famed Moulin Rouge. With such a storied history, it is the perfect spot in which to immerse yourself in the feeling of old world, Hollywood glamour. Originally home to the iconic “Casino de Marrakech”, Es Saadi began life as a casino, followed by a hotel and the addition of a Moroccan-style palace. This fashionable and historical destination has played host to Princess Margaret, Leo DiCaprio, Pierre Balmain and The Rolling Stones. And each detail feels authentic. Guests are invited to wander down blooming garden paths to relish lagoon-style pools replete with ancient Roman columns, or through the Palace’s Assyrian lounge with its winged horses and Swarovski crystal-tipped red velvet sofas – all the time soaking in the grandeur and glory of old world Moroccan style.
And there are other film connections for film buffs. It was here that Tom Hiddleston fist transfixed British audiences as The Night Manager- the palace interiors stood in as the luxury Cairo hotel in the 2016 BBC adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel. And although named as Cairo, the grand hotel where the British actor’s character manned the concierge’s desk is not in Egypt at all, but was in fact the magnificent Es Saadi Resort.