The 11th annual Marrakech International Film Festival kicked off on Friday in Marrakech, Morocco, with a host of international celebrities, filmmakers, and actors.

Devoted to Moroccan cinema, the FIFM holds several special screenings and is also the site of principal photography of many international productions.

Besides this, there are special master classes where both students and festival-goers get a unique opportunity to go behind the scenes, gain a better understanding of the filmmaking process, and get a chance to interact with filmmakers and screenwriters, who share their own experiences.

For the current year, the hosts offering special master classes include Jean-Jacques Annaud (writer and director, France), Marco Bellocchio (director, Italy), Nuri Bilge Ceylan (writer and director, Turkey), Terry Gilliam (writer and film and opera director, United States), and Roland Joffe (writer, director, and producer, United Kingdom).

Running until Dec.10, the current year's competition reportedly involves 15 films from 15 different nations. They include 10 titles from first-time directors.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a handful of films will be screened for the public at the city's central square, the Place Djemaa El Fna. This includes works like Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Bear from 1988, Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai from 1999, and more recent titles such as Karan Johar's My Name is Khan from 2010 and Roschdy Zem's Omar Killed Me from 2011.

Take a look at the red-carpet arrivals at the 11th Marrakech International Film Festival in the slideshow:

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