The film industry in Marrakech is “fabulous,” American filmstar Robert De Niro told Forbes according to an article published on Wednesday. “There’s something very beautiful and lyrical about it.”
De Niro, one of the main characters of the “Killers of the Flower Moon,” applauded the work of two Moroccan filmmakers Narjiss Nejjar and Nabil Ayouch, praising the art of filmmaking in Morocco’s red city, in an interview with the American magazine before the Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM), which runs this Month.
He said that the attractiveness and creativity of the city was what made him open his new hotel “Nobu” in Marrakech, right near the Cinéma Colisée (cinema theatre), one of the primary venues for the Marrakech Film Festival.
The Cinéma Colisée is situated about 10 minutes from the ancient medina in Gueliz, Marrakech’s French quarter, and was created in 1953 by architect Georges Peynet, to be one of Marrakech’s most creative enterprises.
The Festival will screen films by Arabic and African directors this year, including Stateless (2018) directed by Narjiss Nejjar, and The Kaftan Blue (2022), directed by Nabil Ayouch.
De Niro stated that he would love to spend more time in the Kingdom, because “the arts are incredible in Marrakech. I can really feel the history of the country in the arts here and there’s still a lot I have to learn.”
William Hale (the character De Niro plays role in “Killers of the Flower Moon”) now has his own apartment, complete with private entrance and views of the Atlas Mountains, at Hotel Nobu in Marrakech, which he opened in May, along with two partners, Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa and American director Meir Tepper.