Tunis/Tunisia — The Palestinian cause will be high on the agenda of the 9th Medenine International Documentary and Short Films Festival (FIFDOC).
Indonesia is the guest of honour at this 2023 edition, organised on November 29-December 3, without the festive aspect.
Tunisian actor and director Foued Litaiem has been appointed honorary president of this exceptional edition of FIFDOC.
The Festival is organised by the Association "visions pour la culture et le développement" in Médenine, with the support of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and several other partners.
In the run-up to the official kick-off on December 1, Wednesday will see the launch of a "my film in 72 hours" competition.
The line-up includes a selection of 24 films, including 11 documentaries and 13 short fiction films on the Palestinian resistance. These films by nominated Arab directors represent 13 countries: Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, France, the Netherlands and Tunisia with 5 films.
Tunisian actress Mariem ben Chaabane is on the jury for this year's event, which also includes Giusy Buemi (artistic director, Italy), Sofia Aghilas (producer, Morocco), Hasanain Hani (director, Iraq) and Sam Lahoud (producer, Lebanon).
Three prizes will be awarded in each competition: The Golden, Silver or Bronze Khlel. This prize, in the form of a fibula, represents the traditional 'Khlel' jewellery used to fasten the ends of women's traditional costumes.
Documentary films will compete for the best film prize (gold), the best script prize (silver) and the jury prize for the best documentary (bronze). In the short fiction competition, the festival will award a first prize for best direction (gold), a second prize for best short fiction (silver) and the jury prize for best short (bronze).
All the festive aspects and workshops will be skipped at this year's festival, which will be limited to screenings and conferences in tribute to the Palestinian resistance.
The official opening ceremony, on Friday, will feature a performance of politically committed songs by the Tunisian group "Ouled al manajem."
A remote presentation will be made by Palestinian director of the Al Quds International Film Festival Ezzedine Shallah.
A series of tributes to leading figures in Arab cinema and theatre, including Ola Hamad (Syria), Ramadan Mezdaoui and Ali Ahmed Salem (Libya) and Mariem ben Chaabane, Wahida Dridi, Dalila Meftahi and Khaled Bouzid (Tunisia) are also scheduled.
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Two documentaries from the official competition will be screened, "Mostamerroun" by Ibrahim Khaled Moslim (32', Palestine) and "El Gotra" by Younes ben Hajria (26', Tunisia).
All the films in the competition will be screened on Saturday.
The closing evening will see the announcement of the official awards and the screening of the first prize-winning films in the two competitions, documentary and fiction, in addition to the competition film, my film in 72 hours. A theatre performance entitled Gaza ramz al izza (literally Gaza, a symbol of pride) is also on the agenda.
The Medenine Institute for Arid Regions (IRA), where the festival was launched at its first and second sessions, will host a scientific conference on "the role of cinema in preserving heritage" on Friday morning.
A master class, scheduled for December 3 at the Espace des Associations, will be devoted to the issue of "the use of multimedia supports, photo and video, in support of the Palestinian cause."
