The Unknown Saint [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Morocco’s Alaa Eddine Aljem, which was first unveiled in the Cannes Critics’ Week, will tonight open the 30^th edition of FIDMarseille, which is set to unspool until 15 July, presenting an extremely diverse programme that, as always, displays a keen interest in artistic exploration. The menu boasts more than 125 films hailing from 35 countries, including 33 world and three international premieres across its four competitive sections. And this year, the Marseille International Film Festival will hand out an Honorary Grand Prix and will pay tribute to French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello as well as US photographer-director Sharon Lockhart, who will also be giving master classes.

Standing out among the 16 titles (13 of which will be having their world premieres) taking part in the international competition (set to be weighed up by a jury chaired by Sharon Lockhart herself) are The Whalebone Box [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Spaniard Carlos Casas (a co-production involving France, the UK, Poland and Uzbekistan), Rights-of-Man [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Juan Rodrigáñez
scheda film] by his fellow countryman Juan Rodrigañez, Visiting Card [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by France’s Michel Zumpf and Timeless Havana [+leggi anche:
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This international competition is rounded off by five additional features (one from Lebanon, one from Chile, one from Brazil, one from Mexico and one from Japan), six medium-length movies (including one from Portugal helmed by Leonor Noivo, an Italian one by Gaia Formenti and Marco Piccarreda, the British title Ghost Strata by Ben Rivers, and an Algerian-French joint effort by Narimane Mari) and one French-Moroccan short film.

As for the French competition (the jury for which will be chaired by actress Agathe Bonitzer), 12 world premieres are on the cards, including Danses macabres, Skeletons, and Other Fantasies [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Pierre Léon and Rita Azevedo Gomes, A Beautiful Summer [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Pierre Creton and Noli me tangere [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Christophe Bisson. Also of note among the features are Sad Song [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Gwendal Sartre and Fabien Zocco, Mittelmer [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Jean-Marc Chapoulie and Slits [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Carlos Segundo.

Two other competitive sections have been organised at FIDMarseille, one for debut films (including such movies as Pagine di storia naturale by Italy’s Margherita Malerba and Status and Terrain [+leggi anche:
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scheda film] by Germany’s Ute Adamczewski), and the other under the auspices of the National Association of Research Cinemas, encompassing such standout titles as Ghost Tropic [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Bas Devos
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intervista: Callisto Mc Nulty
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intervista: Callisto Mc Nulty
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scheda film] by Sara Fattahi (Golden Leopard in the Filmmakers of the Present competition at Locarno last year).

Also of note in the exceedingly rich programme are a work-in-progress screening of Zorn by Mathieu Amalric (a portrait summing up his encounters with US composer and musician John Zorn since 2009), a Focus dedicated to Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, and a selection of seven movies in the context of Doc Alliance, a partnership that brings together seven European festivals (FIDMarseille, Denmark’s CPH:DOX, Portugal’s Doclisboa, Germany’s DOK Leipzig, the Czech Republic’s Ji.hlava, Poland’s Docs Against Gravity and Switzerland’s Visions du Réel).

Lastly, industry professionals will be present in their droves on 11 and 12 July, at the 11^th edition of the FIDLab co-production support platform (see the news), the standout titles among the 14 projects selected being Heart of Light by Cynthia Beatt, which will boast Tilda Swinton among the cast, and Human Flowers of Flesh [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Helena Wittmann
scheda film] by Germany’s Helena Wittmann (whose feature debut, Drift [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Helena Wittmann e Theresa …
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