"I'm a very shy person. I don't feel comfortable feeling too important," said Francis Ford Coppola.
AP/Michel SpinglerThe Marrakech Film Festival will celebrate its 15th birthday with Francis Ford Coppola, organizers on Monday announcing that the Oscar winner will serve as president of the festival’s jury.
“The Kingdom of Morocco is among my most favorite places on earth, and thus the Marrakech International Film Festival is a joy to attend,” Coppola said. “My paternal grandmother was born in North Africa (Tunisia) and I remember well the stories she told. All that personal history plus the fact that Morocco was the first country to recognize the American Colonies as an independent nation makes me feel most welcome.”
Coppola was previously honored at the festival in 2002.
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Organizers cited Patton, The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation as some of his seminal films. “These films have consistently been listed among the greatest films ever made,” organizers said, adding that his company, American Zoetrope, has been behind 70 Oscar nominations. “As a writer, director, producer and technological pioneer, has created a body of work that has helped to shape contemporary American cinema.”
He follows Isabelle Huppert who headed up the jury last year and Martin Scorsese who was president of the jury in 2013.
The Marrakech International Film Festival will be held Dec. 4-12.
