Tunisian film festival celebrates female filmmakers

The Tunisian city of Nabeul is set to host the sixth International Women’s Film Festival between October 11 and 15, the Arab Weekly plus agencies reported. The festival, named “Through Their Eyes”, was created to elevate women filmmakers and create a platform for their narratives.

The event was launched in 2017 by the Tunisian Federation of Cinema Clubs, in collaboration with the country’s Ministry for Culture Affairs. The programme includes film screenings, creative dialogues, masterclasses and workshops that aim to immerse the audiences in the filmmakers’ work, celebrating women in cinema.

Six countries are competing for the festival’s short film award: Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Morocco. The award will recognise the most integrated work and the most compelling portrayal of women on screen, with a jury including Tunisian film-maker Khadija Lemkacher, actors Yasmine Dimassi and Mohamed Chawki Khouja, President of the National Federation of Moroccan Film Clubs Abdelkhalek Belarbi, and French-Algerian producer Sheriane Leila Bekhti.

The programme is also focused on providing workshops, ranging from scriptwriting to pitching short-film projects in the industry. Fourteen female directors from nine Arab countries – Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Syria and Egypt – are expected to teach the classes. Hands-on workshops will also be held, with a focus on the practical aspects of filmmaking, such as coordinating sensitive scenes and shooting films using mobile phones.

Alongside the film screenings and workshops, the festival will host dialogue sessions on “Promoting Equality in Film-making: Initiatives and Prospects” and “Programming Cinema in the Era of Feminist Movements: Responsibilities and New Narratives”, as well as a book presentation by Tunisian journalist Neila Gharbi, author of “Tunisian Films: Criticism and Conversations”.

This year’s slogan, “We Are Here, Still Standing”, draws inspiration from the works of the Palestinian poet Tawfiq Ziad, dealing with themes of resilience, dignity and collective memory. A homage to the women of Palestine was also made by the organisation in an official statement: “We offer this festival to the women of Gaza, whose bodies and voices define perseverance in the face of erasure and annihilation. Through images, we assert our endurance; through cinema, our resistance; and through the voices of women filmmakers, our insistence on life, dreams and building a fairer future.”

The Arab Weekly plus agencies / Maghrebi