The beginning of week two was when the highly anticipated first of three master classes were scheduled with Turkish helmer Fatih Akin breaking bread first. Giving insight into a career that has been celebrated at major film fests since Head-On won over the Berlinale, I’m of the opinion that his only true masterwork was 2007’s The Edge of Heaven. So if I needed a reason for not attending, then this is how I would clear my day for a slight detour.
The organizers gave attendees the possibility of visiting the vistas of Ouarzazate (about half an hour plane ride away from Marrekech). As it turns out, Morrocco has been host to several feature films dating back well beyond Lawrence of Arabia days. 
Plenty of film folk made the trip which included stops at the impressive, wish we could have stayed longer Kasbah Ait Benhaddou (Unesco site and 1st set location of the region) rather than the non-adventures of the Dino De Laurentiis Cinecitta and the Jérusalem set (where Kingdom of Heaven was filmed) and Atlas Studios (where Kundun and Lewis Teague’s The Jewel of the Nile (among many others) were filmed but where very little archival material has been preserved or at least documented for future tour bus groups.
