While his international career has taken a huge turn, Tahar Rahim is part of the jury of the 19th edition of the Marrakech Film Festival. The actor confided in this role of juror which is close to his heart and his next projects.
Member of a festival jury is a role that Tahar Rahim knows well, having already been a juror on many occasions. He was a member of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 2021 and, this year, the Franco-Algerian actor is part of the Marrakech Film Festival jury for its 19th edition.
The Caesarized actor is honored to take part in this festival which he considers to be important for his relationship with the public: “I really like the idea that the public can see the films for free, that there is a kind of proximity with the actors and actresses and directors that they admire and that they can see them quite easily on the spot. There are things happening for the people, and I like that a lot.”
Tahar Rahim, certified juror
And Tahar Rahim is particularly excited about this new edition of the Marrakech Film Festival, which has focused on first and second feature films by directors from several countries around the world. A way for the actor to support new talents and new works that he must judge in a certain way:
“You have to take into account the economics of films. Depending on the money you have, you can’t necessarily have the plans, the number of extras or certain sets that you want. I really like watching how directors use constraints to intelligently create new things. How do they deal with certain problems? Sometimes there is genius that appears.”
TOBIS Film GmbH Tahar Rahim in “Designated Guilty”
As an actor, the one who was revealed to the general public in A Prophet by Jacques Audiard always seeks to learn, to meet people and to enrich himself with other experiences and other cultures. The position of member of the jury of a film festival is ideal according to him:
“It feels like being in a film club. Which is already nice in itself, but here we are in a high-caliber film club with high-level professionals. Inevitably, we learn things that we may not yet have known or discovered in our profession thanks to people from all over the world.
And cinema is made everywhere and also through the prism of each country. So it’s very interesting to discuss because there are directors, screenwriters, there are actors, actresses. Conversations make it possible to understand and receive films in a different way. It’s good to have time to digest the films.”
It is also for this reason that he wanted to become an actor, this passion for discoveries, challenges. A way for him to explore other grounds, to know that he can stumble and succeed: “It stimulates me, I feel like I’m making my first film each time. And at the same time, it’s also an opportunity to discover other universes, other genres of cinema, but above all other cultures. It’s such a richness, the culture of others.”
Coming soon to Ridley Scott and Marvel
This desire to broaden his horizons allowed him to make a name for himself across the Atlantic. Tahar Rahim has reached another level in his career thanks to his recent international successes, such as Designated Guilty, a film for which he reunited with director Kevin MacDonald – the only filmmaker with whom he has worked twice – and the series Le Serpent . We will find him next year in a big project: Napoleon by Ridley Scott, alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby.
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Tahar Rahim in “The Serpent”
For this biopic, in which he plays Viscount Paul Barras, Tahar Rahim discovers a stage of another scale: “To be on a huge set like this and watch this master, this living legend at work, it’s extraordinary. It’s already very rewarding to have been chosen. But to see four, even eight cameras sometimes, which turn at the same time, one has the impression of seeing a capture, it was fascinating.
For the anecdote, Tahar Rahim was, among other things, present during part of the filming in Malta, at the very place where the Colosseum in Rome was built for the film Gladiator, an immense masterpiece of Ridley Scott’s career. . This time, for Napoleon, Malta became Toulon.
But that’s not all for Tahar Rahim since in 2024, we will find him in the Marvel universe – that of Sony – since he will be starring in Madame Web by SJ Clarkson, alongside Dakota Johnson, Sydney Sweeney, Emma Roberts and Adam Scott. And that for the actor, “it’s a kid’s dream”.
A project for which he was not sure to be taken. After reading the script and meeting SJ Clarkson, he just thought it was a discussion. But his agent confirmed to him afterwards that it was a real offer, which he accepted immediately.
If he can not say too much, Tahar Rahim confirms that he has finished his shots and he explains that his experience on Napoleon helped him to understand the shooting of this big Marvel blockbuster. For the moment, her role in Madame Web has not yet been revealed, but speculation is rife, as filming photos fuse on social networks.
Towards what horizons will Tahar Rahim go next? Inevitably, a project in which we have not yet seen it: “There are still a thousand things to explore in the cinema. A subject can be exploited indefinitely in the cinema. But I would love to do a western.” On good terms.
This interview was conducted as part of a round table with AlloCiné and Le Figaro.