The 15th “Cinéma de la Paix” festival, organized by the Fédération Tunisienne des Ciné-clubs and the Tunis Film Club was held in Tunis from March 25th to 29th. For the first time it also relocated to other towns: Kef from March 23rd to 25th and Bizerte from March 28th to 30th. The event, essentially artistic, cultural and humanist, calls for “a recognition of non-commercial films and the rehabilitation of auteur cinema, films which stand up for the human in a world governed by a frantic race for profit. Its aim is to encourage cultural diversity and understanding among peoples, to foster films from all continents by stimulating the development of quality cinema and to publicize alternative, innovative cinema, at the same time discovering and encouraging new talents.”
This year’s theme was “the person and the character on film”. There were screenings of and discussions about drama films and documentaries, mostly unseen in Tunisia. Seven films from Kazakhstan, Egypt, Spain, Morocco, France, South Africa and Palestine were screened, three of them with the director present (Maria Ruido (Spain), Joseph Awadi (Franco-Moroccan) and Fathi Safa (Egypt)).
This year’s festival was also marked by two meetings: one about “people and characters in cinema” with Dr. Kamel Regaya and the second with Dr. Safa Fathy: “Lets de-construct cinema”. The oriental jazz group “Beyond Borders Band” closed the event.
Sources: cinemadelapaix.com et cinematunisien.com
