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The 22nd Marrakech International Film Festival closed Saturday with Promised Sky, directed by Erige Sehiri, winning the festival’s top honor, the Étoile d’Or. The award capped nine days of screenings, discussions and premieres at the Palais des Congrès.

The jury praised Promised Sky as a bold work that offers “a different vision of the world,” combining poetic sensibility with grounded storytelling. The prize recognizes a film that, the jury said, urges viewers to reconsider their relationships with others and with themselves.

This edition of the festival highlighted filmmakers engaging with complex global realities through fresh perspectives. The Jury Prize was shared by My Father and Qaddafi, directed by Jihan K., and Vladlena Sandu’s Memory, two introspective films in which personal narratives intersect with broader historical themes.

Oscar Hudson won the Best Directing Prize for Straight Circle, noted by the jury for its formal precision and artistic ambition. Debora Lobe Naney received Best Performance by an Actress for her role in Promised Sky, while Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù earned Best Performance by an Actor for his work in Akinola Davies Jr.’s My Father’s Shadow. Actors Elliot and Luke Tittensor were awarded special mentions for their performances in Straight Circle.

The jury was chaired by South Korean director Bong Joon Ho and included Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz; Moroccan director Hakim Belabbes; French director Julia Ducournau; Iranian actor-director Payman Maadi; U.S. actor Jenna Ortega; Canadian-Korean filmmaker Celine Song; and British-Argentinian actor Anya Taylor-Joy.

This year’s festival also paid tribute to major figures in world cinema. Jodie Foster received an Étoile d’Or for lifetime achievement and reflected on her decades in film, saying cinema remains “a deeply humanistic community” where audiences share stories together. She also praised Morocco’s warmth, calling the country “a place that charms all the senses.”

Egyptian actor Hussein Fahmi was honored for his long career and recalled attending the festival’s first edition and filming in Marrakech in the early 1970s. Moroccan icon Raouya received an emotional tribute celebrating her decades of contributions to national cinema. Guillermo del Toro—an annual guest and longtime supporter of the festival—was also honored for his artistic impact and ties to Marrakech, which he described as “a refuge and a haven for filmmakers.”

Beyond screenings, the festival’s Conversations series gathered leading global voices, including Bong Joon Ho, del Toro, Foster, Academy CEO Bill Kramer, Jafar Panahi, Tahar Rahim and Yousra, offering audiences in-depth dialogue on the craft and future of cinema.

Attendance reached more than 47,000, including 7,000 children and teenagers participating in Young Audiences and Family programming, underscoring the festival’s continued commitment to accessibility and film education.

The Atlas Workshops, the festival’s industry development platform, convened 350 professionals around 28 film projects from Africa and the region, reinforcing Marrakech’s growing role as a continental hub for emerging filmmakers.

Under the presidency of Prince Moulay Rachid, the festival continued its social outreach efforts with a campaign to combat blindness in Tahannaout, offering 3,000 medical consultations and 400 cataract surgeries to communities affected by the Al Haouz earthquake.

The 22nd edition closed with tributes, discoveries and a renewed emphasis on cinematic creativity. By elevating new voices and honoring established auteurs, the Marrakech International Film Festival reaffirmed its role as one of the world’s key meeting points for filmmakers and audiences.