Carthage Film Days are back in force in Tunis

“Dream, live!” is the catchphrase of the 32nd Carthage Film Festival, which annually awards the best film of its famous Golden Tanit.

This year, 12 films are in competition, including Feather, by Egyptian director Omar El Zohairy, and Amira by Mohamed Diab, also Egyptian, which we wrote about for their screening at the Red Sea Film Festival in El Gouna two weeks ago.

“We renew this appointment with more joy, vivacity, innovation and discovery,” said the director general of the festival, Ridha Behi, who intends to mark the occasion after a 2020 edition in half-tone, because of the health crisis.

“We can have differences on all fronts, except our love for the cinema,” he added, while Tunisia is experiencing some political upheaval. 

 

Many Arab personalities in the spotlight

 

This year, a particularly cosmopolitan jury has been composed to award the Golden Tanit to the best film. Among its members are the Haitian director Gessica Généus, the Moroccan filmmaker Daoud Aoulad-Syad and the Iranian director Ahmed Bahrami, among others. 

In addition to the usual Tanit award, two other prizes were created by the festival organizers: the Lina Ben Mhenni Award, named after this Tunisian activist who died in 2020, and the Sadek Sabbah Award, this Lebanese filmmaker and producer of the Netflix series Al Hayba. 

Finally, the Belgian and Libyan cinemas are honored in this edition, due to their “cinematographic effervescence that deserves to be immersed“, according to an official statement of the festival. 

The JCC 2021 remains an important cultural gathering for Tunisia and its regional influence, as stressed by Hayet Guettat Guermazi, Minister of Cultural Affairs at the opening ceremony: “the festival remains a pillar of cultural activity in Tunisia and in all countries of the South.”

And if you want to know the big winners of the jury selection, see you on November 6!