Marrakesh film fest to pay tribute to Di Caprio

The seventh Marrakesh Film Festival opens Friday in Morocco with a programme including a tribute to American actor Leonardo Di Caprio and a focus on new films from eastern Europe and Asia.

"To be recognised as a real event dedicated to cinema, a festival first needs solid film content," Melita Toscan Du Plantier told Morocco's MAP news agency.

"This year, the (festival) includes films, filmmakers and polished artists."

Some 14 films will be in competition representing Estonia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Finland and Serbia, as well as the Netherlands, Algeria, Japan, Morocco, the Philippines, China, the United States, Mexico and South Korea.

The festival, which extends to December 15, will feature 110 films representing 23 nationalities.

"Elizabeth: The Golden Age", a film by director Shekhar Kapur starring Cate Blanchett, will be shown outside of competition.

The president of the festival's jury will be Milos Forman, the Czech-born director who has won Oscars for his films "Amadeus" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Other jury members will be Moroccan filmmaker Hamid Bennani, Pavel Lounguine of Russia, Claude Miller of France and Kapur, who is British. It will also include British actor John Hurt and actresses Aissa Maiga of France, Parker Posey from the United States and Aitana Sanchez-Gijon of Spain.

The tribute to Di Caprio comes as he films a movie in Morocco about the war in Iraq that will also star Russell Crowe, with Ridley Scott as director.

One of the festival's most loyal participants, American director Martin Scorsese, will speak on December 8.

In 2006, the festival's grand prize, the Gold Star, went to German film "Der Rote Kakadu" (The Red Cockatoo), directed by Dominik Graf. Filmmaker Roman Polanski headed last year's festival jury.