22 September 2008
Tunis — The 22 nd edition of the Carthage Cinema Days, known by their French acronym as JCC (Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage), will take place from October 25 to November 1, 2008. The event is organised by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage Preservation.
The Festival which is the oldest film festival in Africa, aims at providing Tunisian movie lovers with the very best of what is produced currently in the seventh art, however the festival's competition remains traditionally open only to African and Arab films.
The Festival's Director, Mrs Dora Bouchoucha, has announced that apart from the traditional film screenings, the festival will also host an encounter between two major filmmakers (from the South and North), who will present their own respective vision of their work environment, as well as their own reality.
A number of workshops meant to encourage young filmmakers produce their work will also be scheduled. Some ten projects will compete for 5 'development allowances ' of a value of 10,000 euros each, offered notably by the French Cinematography Center (CNC), the International Organisation of French speaking countries (OIF), the television channels TV 5/ Arte, among other donors.
The festival will also pay tribute to great figurers of the Tunisian, African and Arab cinema who have recently passed away, such as Youssef Chahine, Ahmed Attia, Sembene Ousmane, and Elyes Zrelli.
More details concerning the final composition of the jury and other items will be given at a press point scheduled on October 7, 2008, however it has already been announced that the well- known Egyptian novelist Alaa El Aswany, author of the Yaacoubian Building, and the French actress Emmanuelle Beart, will be part of the jury.
36 years after its inception, observers judge the festival's overall performance as 'positive', indeed most of the filmmakers whose careers, the JCC, helped launch, have become global creators who take part in cinema fests throughout the world. Youssef Chahine, Souleymane Cisse, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Ferid Boughedir, Moufida Tlatli and many others, owe a great deal of their international reputation to the Carthage Cinematographic Days.
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