It might not be as known as the film festivals in Cannes or Venice but nonetheless the Marrakech Film Festival is an important event in the film industry, in particular for its political and cultural significance nowadays. Last year American actor Christopher Walken said that it “reconciles world’s cultures. In a world plagued with misunderstanding between East and West, cinema can reconcile diverse cultures, ethnicities and promote understanding between them.”

This year the festival will celebrate its 10^th anniversary and it will launch its first short film contest for students of Moroccan Cinema Institutes and Schools. The competition is called “Cinecoles” and the main objective is to help and bring to light new talents on the cinema scene.

The festival will also pay tribute to French cinema this year. As the birthplace of motion pictures, France had significant impact on the film industry in Europe and the world. To honor French cinema a retrospective of French films will be shown. Previous editions of the festival featured Morocco, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Great-Britain and South Korea.

The festival’s jury always consists of big names in the international cinema industry. This year Faouzi Bensaidi (Actor, director and screenwriter – Morocco), Gabriel Byrne (Actor, producer and screenwriter – Ireland), Maggie Cheung (Actress – Hong Kong), Gael Garcia Bernal (Actor, producer and director – Mexico), Benoit Jacquot (Director, screenwriter and stage director – France), Eva Mendes  (Actress – USA), Riccardo Scamarcio (Actor – Italy), and Yousra (Actress – Egypt) are members in the jury. The president of the jury will be John Malkovich.

From December 3^rd until the 11^th Marrakech will be all about cinema and movies. Rent apartments in Marrakech to experience a beautiful, oriental city like this. Live out your 1001 Nights experience and maybe you are lucky enough to spot one of the stars that will be in the city during the festival.

For more information: http://en.festivalmarrakech.info/

In recent years we’ve seen an interesting trend among celebrities in their thirties. In their fight against wrinkles and other signs of aging, they take increasingly drastic measures, earlier and earlier. According to my mother, paraphrasing the French film goddess Catherine Deneuve, after 30 it´s either your ass or your face. Specifically this means: if you maintain a slim body thanks to a strict diet and exercise routine, chances are that your face will exhibit more signs of aging over time.

But today’s celebrities refuse to surrender before the laws of nature. They have Joined forces with increasingly clever plastic surgeons to make the impossible possible: a tiny body and a baby-face well into middle age. Thus, new anti-aging technologies have spawned a new specimen of woman, whose most spectacular examples are found in Hollywood with last names like  Kidman, Zellweger, Moore and, of course, plastic surgery queen, Madonna.  However, these interventions may be a double-edged sword,  giving stars a frozen and iconic beauty that reads well from 500 feet, but seems freakish upon closer inspection..

These interventions also have the tendency to make the stars resemble each other, forcing them to loose their identities in the grueling battle to eliminate every trace of age or asymmetry which refutes the parameters of a perfect face.

Apart from full lips, small noses and porcelain skin, there is a new phenomenon that goes beyond lifting – let us call it “stuffing”. Actresses of a certain age are no longer just stretched and pinned back; they are also stuffed like a Christmas turkey. Their “fillers” are collagen injections to the face which return the illusion of elasticity and “fullness” which get lost with age and after dieting for many years. The result is somewhat disturbing, as these older women maintain youthful figures, and mask like reproductions of childish faces. If you want to explore the world of beauty, without taking such drastic measures, rent apartments in Marrakech, where you’ll find products such as Argan oil that will return your skin to its youthful elasticity.