Jodie Foster, Guillermo del Toro, Raouya and Hussein Fahmi as set to be honored at the 22nd annual Marrakech International Film Festival later this month, organizers announced Tuesday morning.
"The festival will celebrate four personalities whose careers reflect the richness and diversity of the seventh art," organizers said in a press release, noting that they "are artists from different backgrounds, each of whom embodies in their own way the universal power of cinema."
"With these tributes, Marrakesh reaffirms its role as a crossroads of cultures and talents, a place where world cinema converges together and where the voices that shape the collective imagination are heard," they said.
Foster, a two-time Oscar winner who has been an actor since she was a child, said she feels "blessed to have been chosen for this tribute," and that she'll be debuting a new French film, Vie Privee (A Private Life) at the festival.
"What an honor to discover your beautiful city of Marrakesh and to celebrate film at the same time," she said.Three-time Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro said he is thrilled that he has been invited back to the festival, where he will present his latest film, the Oscar Isaac-starring Frankenstein.
"I am especially honored to receive a tribute," del Toro said.
Raouya, born Fatima Harandi, is a Morroccan acting legend who called the tribute an immense honor.
"What joy and emotion to be celebrated in my own country, in the ochre city, at one of its largest film events," they said.
South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho was previously announced to lead the jury at this year's festival.
