This Friday morning, November 1st 2019, a cinema masterclass programmed by the Carthage Film Festival took place at the ''Salle Des jeunes créateurs'' (city of culture) from 11:00am to 01:00pm.
This masterclass was moderated by Jean-Michel Frodon and attended by many cinema-lovers and filmmakers along with the artistic advisor of the Carthage Film Festival, Tarek Ben Chaabane.
The participants discussed the new emerging challenges, the current status and functions of the seventh art evolving nowadays in a word marked by two major phenomena: Globalization and Digitalization.
In his intervention, Jean-Michel Frodon started by recalling the beginnings of the film industry in the nineteenth century to arrive to the current era, highlighting the impact of globalization, that he finds negative.
It is worth mentioning that Jean-Michel Frodon is a French journalist, critic, professor and cinema historian holder of a History degree.
Frodon worked, first, as a journalist and film critic for the weekly magazine ''Le Point'' then for the daily ''Le Monde'' to end up responsible for its cinema section.
Between 2003 and 2009, he worked as Editor in Chief for ''Cahiers du cinéma''. Then in September 2009, he managed the blog ''Projection publique'' for the ''Slate.fr'' magazine and became its Editor in Chief in 2010.
In 2014, he was appointed Vice-Chairman of the World Cinema Support Committee, which reports to the National Center for Cinema and Motion Picture and to the French Institute.
Jean-Michel Frodon contributes as well to numerous film magazines and writes regularly for the daily AOC, knowing that he is also a professor of political science and an honorary professor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
In 2017, he became a member of the Scientific Council of the Femis Institute and is responsible and co-organizer of several film events but also founder and activist of the Association l’Exception.
This masterclass reflects the desire of the late Director General of the Festival Nejib Ayed to multiply the spaces of thinking aiming to preserve the first mission of this festival.
Through the 'Official section out of competition', the Carthage Film Festival 2019 (Nejib Ayed session) dedicates a special space for Tunisian and Arab films.
In this respect, a special screening was dedicated to the International premiere of the Tunisian feature film ''Before it's too late'' which is the first feature work of the young Tunisian director Majdi Lakhdar.
In Fact, this film depicts the story of ''Ali'', a Tunisian man spending most of his time digging for a treasure burried under his house. One day, his house crumbled and he ended up stuck with his wife and children under the wreckage with no option but taking care of them and trying to save them ''Before it's too late''.
Egypt is also part of this section with the film ''Into studio Masr'', first documentary by Mona Assad. This documentary, produced in 2019, repaints the features of an Egyptian youth passionate with cinema and driven by this love to improve Studio Masr. Fifteen years later, their story is retranscripted in this film.
From Morocco, we find a film produced in 2019 entitled ''Les égarés'' by Said Khallaf. The film events evolve around the character of ''Mourad'' who belongs to an elite high class considered as dominating the popular class. Mourad had a car accident which made him sexually dysfunctional and overturned his life upside down.
The last film is a 2019 Egyptian production entitled ''When we are born'' by Tamer Ezzat. ''When we are born'' is a mixture of 3 stories with 3 different characters struggling basically because of the restrictions imposed on them. The stories are intertwined through songs revealing the internal conflicts of the characters.
For this Carthage Film Festival 2019 (Nejib Ayed session), a special section is dedicated to Tunisian films called ''Views of Tunisian cinema''.
Within this section, nine recently produced films (2018, 2019) are programmed among short and feature ones.
''Fataria'' by Walid Tayaa is one of the feature films of this section. The events of Fataria happen in May 2004, with the Arab Summit and a Tunis in turmoil. In this frenzied and burlesque atmosphere, characters intersect without ever really meeting, striving to solve their personal problems.
The feature documentary ''130 years of Alawists'' by Mohamed Jamel Nefzi is also one of the proposed films.It actually goes back to the history of education in Tunisia, till the first institution founded by France since 1884 which is the alawist school in the capital Tunis considered as a center for national and international education.
Another feature documentary is ''L'homme qui est devenu musée'' by Marwen Trabelsi which transports us to the awkward world of a solitary artist, Ali Issa, obsessed by collecting things and painting them to develop his art based on recycling. As the collections grew, this very man became a museum.
As for the feature documentary '' Le trésor argentique'' by Mounir Baaziz tracks the iconic Tunisian sports photographer, Béchir Mannoubi.
Through several interviews, the director questions the memory and rebuilds an extraordinary career of an exceptional man wondering about the photographic heritage left by Mannoubi when he passed away in 2005?
''Non, oui'' by Mahmoud Jemni is painting the daily life of a young lady from Gabes who was born abroad and came back after 2011 to put her skills at the service of her country. Very soon, this lady got shocked from the Racist behaviors prohibited by the law and all the religious principles and values.
As for the list of short films, we have: ''Barisa'' by Slown which depicts the story of ''Barisa'', waitress by day and prostitute by night struggling with a stolen life.
Also ''Fatum'' by Mohamed Ali Nahdi, which draws the life of Nejib, 30-year-old painter, living in his parents' house located at the old city (Medina) with his son and wife. His passion with painting made he spend long nights without returning home. Till one day, he returns after few days of absence but a surprise was waiting for him…!
''First turn on the left'' by Wajdi Jhimi pictures the confusion of a young man called Jalel lost in his neighborhood… A story of a loss getting bigger throughout the years.
''Split'' by Ghassen Mejri is a film about a man who ended up as a clean worker in the streets of Tunis after a painful experience. His new situation took him back to his old existential thoughts.
Dear collegues,
We are honored to inform you that the CHABAKA & TAKMIL Awards Ceremony will take place today Wednesday, October 30th at 7:00 pm at the Africa Hotel at Mount Kenya Hall (5th floor).
We will be pleased to welcome you.
'Focus Nigeria' started yesterday, October 28th, at the Africa hotel and was attended by the two special Nigerian guests: the producer and director Abba T.Makama presenting his film ''Green White Green'' and the director C.J Obasi participating with his two films ''Hello Rain'' (short film) and ''Ojuju'' (feature film).
On October 31st, the film Òlòtùré selected in the Focus Nigeria, will have its world premiere at 6pm. in Le 4ème Art Theater.
The opening film of this section was ''Mokalik'' by the film director Kunle Afolayan which was screened before journalists, filmmakers and cinema-lovers.
To open the event, the responsible for the ''Focus Nigeria'' section, Khalil Sallem, acclaimed this opportunity offered to Nollywood to show its richness as a world's second ranked film industry especially after being lately absent from Tunisia and film markets.
Let's recall that this 'Focus Nigeria' includes the following films: ''Green White Green''by Abba T.Makama, ''Ezra'' by Newton Aduaka, ''Mokalik'' and ''October 1'' by Kunle Afolayan, ''Ojuju'' and ''Hello Rain'' by C. J. Obasi, ''The delivery boy'' by Adekunle Adejuyigbe and ''Taxi Driver': Oko Ashewo'' by Daniel Emeke Oriahi.
Carthage Film Festival in the regions was launched in Bizerte and attended by Regional officials, representative of the Minister of Cultural Affairs Ali Bennour and many journalists, filmmakers and movie-goers.
After a tour in the city, all the guests went to the cheikh Idriss house of culture where they attended a youth theater show and a music performance followed by an exhibition of film posters entitled "Cinema for Bizerte… Bizerte for cinema".
Then, the guests were honored given a Tanit made in Sajnen Pottery just before displaying the long documentary ''A haunted past'' by the Tunisian director Fatma Riahi.
In her speech, the latter director expressed her delight for this premiere in Bizerte, this city memorizing her childhood souvenirs, hoping that the public will enjoy the film.
Following the screening, a debate was opened animated by journalists, directors and actors.
This Monday morning, October 28th, the conference ''Lebanese cinema: reality and perspectives'' took place at the Media Center of the Carthage Film Festival based in Ibn Kholdoun house of culture.
In fact, this conference was animated by Radhouen Ayadi, responsible for the ''Focus Lebanon'' section, along with Maya De Frij, head of Cinema Lebanon Institution and the Lebanese cinema historian Hedi Zkek.
In his speech, Hedi Zkek highlighted the major milestones of Lebanese cinema till today and the main films and filmmakers who left a special mark on Lebanese and Arab cinema history.
The head of Cinema Lebanon Institution, Maya De Frij mentioned the important role played by this institution in supporting the film industry and creating a network of producers and governmental institutions to provide them with the necessary funds. She also insisted on the importance of Lebanese-Tunisian cooperation regarding co-production, calling for the creation of an Arab network of cinema centers in several Arab countries as a step towards an Arab cinema industry that transcends borders.
It's worth mentioning that ''Focus Lebanon'' section has started yesterday evening in the 'Cinema Africa' in presence of the Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs and the Ambassador of Lebanon in Tunisia. The opening film was ''1982" by the director Oualid Mouaness.
This is actually the first Focus dedicated to the Lebanese cinema which will be represented by 16 films: 10 feature films and 6 short ones.
All of these films weave major milestones of the modern Lebanon history marked by the episode of war and its impact on social and family life.
These films were produced by different generations of filmmakers from the seventies and the nineties till now trying thus to cover the different waves of Lebanese cinema as explained by the director Hedi Zakek.
The list of feature films includes: ''Kafr Kassem'' by Borhane Alaouié, “Little Wars” by Maroun Baghdadi, “Good Morning” by Bahij Hojeij, "Caramel" by Nadine Labaki, “Once Upon A Time: Beirut” by Jocelyne Saab, “In the shadows of the City” by Jean Khalil Chamoun, “Terra Incognita” by Ghassan Salhab awarded by the JCC 2014, “When Maryam Spoke Out” by Assad Fouladkar, "Tramontane" by Vatche Boulghourjian and ''West Beiruth'' by Ziad Doueiri.
As for the short films, we can find: ''Under the robes'' by Michel Zarazir, ''Last days of the man of tomorrow'' by Fadi Baki, ''Tshweesh'' by Feyrouz Serhal, ''Mabrouk'' by Cynthia Sawma, ''The rifle, the jackal, the wolf and the boy'' by Oualid Mouaness and "Waves '98" by Elie Dagher.
The first edition of Carthage Digital was launched, Sunday, October 27th, at the city of culture in Tunis.
This edition started with a speech by the director general of the National Center of Cinema and Image, Chiraz Laatiri, who expressed her delight to see Cinema actors and filmmakers among those interested in the ''Digital'' sector, gathered in one place to exchange ideas and share experiences.
Since the very first steps of its conception in 2017, 'Carthage Digital' has been a challenging mission for the National Center of Cinema and Image set to offer high quality services to the cinema and videogames fields.
Chiraz Laatiri also pointed out the importance of creating a 'Digital Lab', dedicated to the projects dealing with new digital technology, and a 'Gaming Lab' open to the innovative videogames projects. She also underlined that the launch of this first edition of Carthage Digital basically acknowledges and upholds the existence of new techniques of the film industry, which can only sustain and contribute to its development.
In the same vein, the Tunisian director Nejib Belkadhi disapproved the fact that visual effects affect the film's quality. In Fact, he believes that the success of a film is mainly based on its topic and that using many special effects is not necessarily related to bad films. This is to say that films with a lot of special effects are most of the time dedicated to the wide public.
This Sunday morning, October 27th, the tribute event dedicated to the late Nejib Ayed was held at the movie theatre 'Salle Omar Khelifi' in the city of Culture - Tunis.
The Minister of Cultural Affairs, Mohamed Zinelabidine, attended the event along with many media figures and artists notably the director Ferid Boughedir, the theatre actress Leila Toubel, the Tunisian actor Ali Bennour and the Tunisian director Hammadi Arafa.
The Belgian pianist Christian Lacroix opened the ceremony with a special composition dedicated to the soul of his friend Nejib Ayed accompanying a screening of the late director's pictures.
Right after, Raja Farhat, who presented this special event, recalled the important contributions of Nejib Ayed to the cine clubs movement and all the efforts he made to preserve these clubs especially in the distant areas. Indeed, Nejib Ayed believed that 'the more clubs created, the better freedom earned'. With these words, Raja Farhat announced the tribute ceremony open.
Other friends, relatives and fellows from Nejib Ayed's inner circle were also present. The family friend, Fatma Ben Mansour, was the first HONOR the late director through a French poem.
The scriptwriter, Feriel Kallela who came from Canada specifically to express her gratitude to the late director, spoke about her first meeting with Nejib Ayed and how she started working with him since she was 23, underlying his encouraging attitude towards young cinema talents.
'' I was following Nejib wherever he went, I was so impressed by this classy tall white-haired man'', this is how Amine Boukhris who was discovered by Nejib Ayed, chose to start his speech about how they used to collaborate and how Nejib Ayed accepted to produce his documentary ''War reporter'' though he had never produced this kind of films before.
The producer, Habib Attia, was deeply affected by this loss. ''It feels like I've lost my father twice! Once when my biological father, the producer Ahmed Baha Attia, passed away three years ago and then when Nejib left us…'' he said.
The television director, Hammadi Arafa, spoke about his collaboration with the late director within the Tunisian Television and also through joint creations between the public and private sectors namely the TV series '' Dowwar'', ''Ennes Hkeya'' and ''Warda''. ''Nejib was a very meticulous and punctual person showing a high respect to the profession.
The director general of the National Center of Cinema and Image, Chiraz Laatiri, also expressed her sorrow for this great loss.
Along with all of these speeches, Music was part of the event interpreted by the voice of the Tunisian singer Zohra Lajnef. Photos of Nejib Ayed retracing his professional career and his family were projected as well.
The minister of cultural affairs, Mohamed Zinelabidine, said that the loss of Nejib Ayed is a huge gap affecting the cultural scene in general.
The late director's son, Ahmed Ayed, was particularly moved while speaking about his father. He went back in time to remember his childhood memories with his 'daddy'.
Afterwards, Leila Toubel, the theatre figure, chose to honor the late director through poem written in Tunisian Dialect.
Nejib Ayed's widow, Najet Ayed, was extremely emotional while speaking about her late husband and announcing that his family is willing to perpetuate his name by founding a culture and cinema structure working to help young artists fulfill their artistic dreams.
This tribute event ended up with a series of Nejib Ayed's pictures showing him since he was a child… a very emotional moment accompanied by the soft piano musical notes.
The opening ceremony of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival (Nejib Ayed session) took place tonight at the Opera theatre of the City of Culture in Tunis. Many artists, filmmakers and cinema-lovers attended the ceremony, all gathered to celebrate a common passion… Cinema!
The ceremony was presented by Ahmed El Hafiene and contained many sections notably the presentation of the jury members as well as a musical show by Sabri Mosbeh and a Japanese music band.
Always faithful & grateful to Nejib Ayed, the ceremony started with a screening dedicated to the late director before his close fellow, the producer Hassan Daldoul offered Nejib Ayed's son and daughter, Ahmed and Nadia Ayed, a Golden Tanit to acknowledge their father's mark left on this festival and to encourage them to follow the same path.
Another video was displayed to pay tribute to the late Tunisian director Chawki Mejri and to some other Arab and African filmmakers who recently left us.
After that, we followed with the presentation of the 15 members of the juries including producers, directors, scriptwriters and actors. The Grand Jury is headed by the French Senegalese director Alain Gomis who will be surrounded by the Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada, the Algerian actor Hassan Kachach, as well as the Tunisian director Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, the Moroccan director Meryem Benm’Barek, the Zimbabwean filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembg and the Lebanese director Yasmine Khlat.
The documentary jury is however presided over by the American director Jerome Gary, who will work with the Congolese film critic Djia Mambu,the Cameroonian director and film critic Jean-Marie Téno, the Tunisian writer director Mohamed Mediouni and the Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam.
The First Feature Film Jury (Taher Cheriaa Awards) consists of 3 members headed by the Palestinian Swedish producer and director of the Malmo Arab Film Festival, Mouhamed Keblawi. At his side, the Tunisian actress and producer Anissa Daoud and the Rwandan filmmaker Joel Karekezi.
''He was in love with this festival and he transmitted this love and passion to the whole team'', this is how the Director General of the National Center of Cinema and Image, Chiraz Laatiri talked about the late director of the Carthage Film Festival, Nejib Ayed.
Chiraz Laatiri also welcomed the attendees of the ceremony from National and international guests among critics, journalists, sponsors and partners, without forgetting the dear public and the Tunisian filmmakers from producers, directors, technicians and actors.
The director general of the National Center of Cinema and Image, Chiraz Laatiri, ended her speech by declaring officially open the 2019 Carthage Film Festival (Nejib Ayed session) wishing an exceptional session for everyone and a delightful stay in Tunis to all the guests.
The opening ceremony was concluded by the screening of the Tunisian film ''The scarecrows'' by Nouri Bouzid. A film that depicts the story of ''Zina'' and ''Djo'' coming back from Syria in December 2013 to face a Tunisian society not willing to forgive. The two characters deal differently with their coming back and end up with different destinies.
It's worth mentioning that the screening of ''The scarecrows'' at the opening ceremony of the Carthage Film Festival was basically the idea of the late Nejib Ayed.
After the great success of inviting South Asian and American cinemas as special guests, in the last two sessions, alongside African and Arab countries, the Carthage Film Festival 2019 continues this fruitful experience. For this session, we will be welcoming: Nigeria on behalf of Africa, Lebanon on behalf of the Arab region and Japan on behalf of Asia and Chile on behalf of Latin America. Through this initiative, Carthage Film Festival tightens its African and Arab roots while remaining open to the world new cinemas.
In this respect, Nejib Ayed, the Director of the Carthage Film Festival 2019, insisted during the JCC press conference, held in the 72nd edition of Cannes Film Festival, on the richness and excellence of the films and cinematic background of the countries selected in the Focus section.
FOCUS Lebanon:
The Lebanese cinema which will be part of this year’s FOCUS section, is one of the oldest Arab cinema. Indeed, Beirut has been initiated to the seventh art since its silent periods. The film "Bayaat El Ward" (The flowers’ seller) and " Planet of The Princess of Desert " by Ali El Aris were the first step of a nascent Lebanese cinema project blooming by the arrival of George Nasr, the first director to introduce Lebanese cinema to the world through his film "Where to".
In fact, Lebanese cinema was a strong competitor to the Egyptian experience in terms of building an important stage of "Hollywood East" cinema at both artistic and technical level. However, the war episode hit hard at Lebanese reality and even three decades after the end of the civil war, the work of filmmakers in Lebanon is still affected.
The International glow of the Lebanese experience came thanks to the prominence of some filmmakers and the impact of films such as those of Ziad Doueiri and Nadine Labaki preceded by Jean Chamoun and Maroun Baghdadi. This latter won a Jury Prize at the 1991 Cannes International Film Festival for his film "Out of Life." A prize considered as the most important achievement of Lebanese cinema abroad at the beginning of the 1990s. Jocelyn Saab was also a key figure of the Lebanese cinema. The late filmmaker directed nearly 20 documentaries and four feature films about her beloved city Beirut ravaged by war for years.
In Nejib AYED session, Lebanon will be part of the FOCUS section with 16 films (10 feature films and 6 short films), including: “Good Morning” by Bahij Hojeij, “In the shadows of the City” by Jean Chamoun, “Little Wars” by Maroun Baghdadi and "Caramel" by Nadine Labaki. The opening of this section will be presented as an exhibition of vintage film posters compiled by the artist Abboudi Abu Jawdeh and the opening film will be "Waves '98" by Elie Dagher (starting at 06:00pm).
FOCUS Nigeria:
For this special session of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival dedicated to Nejib AYED, our FOCUS African guest will be "Nollywood" or as simply called Nigerian cinema. This extraordinary experience was able, through its artistic contents about the reality of the continent and its issues, to make a remarkable cinematic movement. Thanks to all these efforts, Nigeria was ranked second internationally in film production after Bollywood.
From Nigeria, the Festival has selected nine films, including ‘Green White Green’ by the director and screenwriter Abba T. Makama, "Ezra" by Newton I. Adwaka, previously member of the 2014 Carthage Film Festival’s Jury and "October 1" by Kunle Afolayan, winner of three awards at the 2014 Africa International Film Festival, including the awards for "Best Feature Film", "Best Screenplay" and "Best Actor". The Nigerian thriller “The Delivery Boy” written and directed by Adekunle Adejuyigbe will be screened as well. The opening film will be “Mokalik” which is the latest work of Kunle Afolayan.
As for the guests, this session of the Festival will welcome the bright young Nigerian filmmaker C. J. Obasi, director of both “Hello, Rain” (short film) and “Ojuju” (feature film). The team of the Nigerian closing film (director, producer and main characters) will also be present during the festival.
FOCUS Chile:
It is impossible to talk about Latin American cinema and watch its films without the Chilean experience being at the forefront of the choices of film lovers seeking a varied and alternative seventh art. The Carthage Film Festival 2019 (Nejib Ayed session) has selected 6 Chilean films reflecting the deep mobility of filmmakers and cinema leaders across generations.
Within the FOCUS section dedicated to Chile, we can find: "El Mocito" by Marcela Said, a feature-length documentary produced in 2012, winner of the Horizon Award for Best Documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Munich, “Dawson isla 10” by Miguel Littin, the Chilean filmmaker of Palestinian origin, and “Miroirs de Tunis” by the great Chilean director Raul Ruiz whi
Today as the first festive event of the Carthage Film festival which are coming soon the « Cine Avenue » has been launched which is one of the JCC animation programs taking place at the Habib Bourguiba Avenue from october 23 rd till november 2nd 2019.
This program is open to the wide public and offer a less conventional way of attending open-air film presentations through a giant screen set up in the downtown core.
Many films selected from different sections of the Carthage Film Festival.
will be screened namely from ‘Nejib Ayed Tribute’.
Latin , American and Asian cinemas as well as many Western, Arab and African film classics.
The jcc 2019 will be a total celebration where street art will have a whole place next to the seventh art.
Further to the Press conference of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival edition, the General direction of the National Center of Cinema and Image (CNCI) expresses its appreciation and gratitude to all the partners who have shown interest, support and contribute to the success of this special edition dedicated to the late Nejib AYED. Their commitment to the director of the JCC and the organizing team committee has made us stronger and more confident for the implementation of a rich and varied program dedicated to cinema lovers.
We would first like to express our heartfelt thanks to Tunisie Telecom, the official and privileged partner of the CNCI, the JCC and the Tuninsian Cinémathèque. In addition to its unwavering support for JCC, Tunisie Telecom supports the CNCI throughout the year for the past three years in setting up a strategy for the development of digital creative industries as a technological pioneer and platform broadcasting of digital content. We would particularly like to thank Tunisie Telecom for the attention addressed to the JCC family, by offering through its communication agency the official poster of the "Néjib Ayed" session.
We also give credit to La Poste Tunisienne, our official partner who ensures the JCC E-ticket sales through its Tikashop online service.
Of course, all our sincere appreciation goes as well to Tunisair, the Festival’s international official carrier and one of the strongest supporter of Culture inj Tunisia.
We are grateful to “La Société Tunisienne de Banque” (STB) who joined the JCC adventure as a strategic partner.
On another note, we would like to thank deeply all our NGO partners namely: the UNICEF, the IOM and the WOAT for their trust and valuable collaboration to make our Festival a space for sharing and communication around various issues affecting humanity.
As well, we are very grateful to all of our precious partners: ONTT, TOPNET, OACA, Institut Français de Tunis, OIF, UNIFRANCE, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Art Academy of Carthage, the US Embassy, FATALES, TOYOTA, JTI, Hotel AFRICA and BeTounsi.
We warmly thank the faithful partners of the professional platform "Carthage Pro" for their contribution: OIF, IOM, IMS, Robert Bosh, LaserFilm, Charbon Studio, TV5MONDE, The Goethe Institute, Programmers of Color Collective, Hakka Distribution, AJAR and Culture Funding Watch.
Our sincere thanks go also to our national and international media partners, namely: La Télévision Tunisienne, El Hiwar Ettounsi, TV5MONDE, la Radio Tunisienne, Mosaique FM and Misk Radio.
We equally commend all those who have shown enthusiasm to turn the JCC 2019 into a platform for exchange and outreach of the Arab and African film industry.
Finally, we extend our gratitude to the Minister of Cultural Affairs for his commitment and support to the 2019 Carthage Film Festival’s Steering Committee and Organizing Team and for making available to the JCC all the spaces of the Cité de la Culture.
On behalf of the CNCI and the JCC
Chiraz Latiri
DG of the CNCI
The press conference of Carthage Film Festival 2019 (Nejib AYED edition) took place this morning and unveiled its programming details before several national and foreign media. The opening film of this edition, from October 26th to November 2nd, was also revealed to be “Scarecrows” by Nouri Bouzid.
In her opening speech, Chiraz Latiri pointed out that three new building blocks were added to this edition, notably “Carthage Talks”, “Carthage Digital” and “Cinema Diaspora” focusing on new abroad national film creations.
As for “Carthage Digital”, the Director General of the National Center for Cinema and Image (CNCI) said it was the Festival’s new baby, born to gather artists, producers, content makers, distributors, investors, festival programmers and technology pioneers who are exploring new forms of storytelling and producing, in order to create a bridge based on networking, financing and distribution opportunities with the pioneers of the digital industry worldwide.
Chiraz Latiri also added that this first edition of “Carthage Digital” will offer a hig- quality program with new aspects focusing on different forms of cinematography by presenting several works highlighting technology.
In fact, “Carthage Digital” is a unique opportunity for festivals and professionals willing to discover not only the motion picture industry and the latest technologies in the digital world: Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, Cinematic Reality, Visual and Invisible Effects, but also the most beautiful and engaging works. It is as well an opportunity to deal with the digital world challenges through the film community perspective.
The good news is that “Carthage Digital” is open to general public via a space on Habib Bourguiba Avenue in downtown Tunis set to discover the digital cinema world through virtual reality experiences.
Tribute to Nejib AYED
The coordinator of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival’s steering board, Najet Nabli Ayed, revealed details of the program paying tribute to the late Nejib Ayed, who left a few weeks before the launch of the festival’s current edition. This program includes both a tribute during the opening ceremony and a dedicated official event on Sunday October 27, 2019 during which Nejib Ayed's friends will travel through their memories with Nejib AYED the artist, the intellectual and the Man.
The Minister of Cultural Affairs, Mohamed Zine El Abidine, will be one of the speakers paying tribute to the late Director of the Carthage Film Festival, along with many other key figures of the field notably the Director General of the National Center for Cinema and Image Chiraz Latiri, as well as several Directors namely Hammadi Arrafa, Amin Boukhriss and Hassan Alilech who was a close friend to Nejib Ayed and a partner in creating Sousse International Film Festival for Youth and Children. There will be also the writer Anwar El Fani, Hakim bin Hamouda, Leila Toubel, the scriptwriter Feriel Kallela and of course Ahmed Ayed, the son of the late director.
Najet Nabli Ayed also expressed her sorrow for the loss of the director Shawki Mejri, the close fellow of Nejib Ayed. Shawki Mejri was eager to praise his friend Nejib Ayed with no pre-written speech, he wanted to seek his words right from the heart and speak spontaneously about what Nejib Ayed meant to him as a friend and as a professional of the field. Unfortunately, death didn’t give him enough time to acclaim his ‘buddy’ and the producer of his film "Kingdom of Ants ", which will be presented in honor of Nejib Ayed during the special event.
Along with the film, music will also be a major part of the tribute ceremony with special pieces entitled “Balade avec un ami” composed by Christian Lacroix and which will be interpreted by Zohra Lajnef accompanied by the pianist Selim Arjoun.
In the same context, Najet Nebli Ayed emphasized on the importance of creating a space dedicated to cinema lovers in the city of culture as already expressed by Nejib Ayed who payed special attention to the Cine Club Federation and all the associations dedicated to art and cinema in our country.
Carthage Film Festival’s Partners
Hichem Ben Khamsa, who is in charge of the communication section of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival, reviewed the list of the festival's major partners, highlighting their support and interaction with the Festival’s programs and events, namely Tunisie Télécom, the Tunisian Post which will ensure the sale of E-tickets through the platform tikashop.tn, the Société Tunisienne de Banque (STB), the Tunisian airlines ‘Tunisair’, as well as the IOM, the UNICEF and all the media partners of the festival.
Hichem also expressed special thanks to the ministry of cultural affairs and the National Center Of cinema and Image for their unconditional support for the Carthage Film Festival.
Artistic Program
In his speech, the Artistic advisor of the Carthage Film Festival 2019, Tarek Ben Chaabane, outlined the pillars underlying the Festival, namely the preservation of the festival’s unique identity, the openness to the new mechanisms adopted in other festivals, as well as the establishment of stronger links with the cinema of the South, especially those thinking outside the box, and the consolidation of the "Carthage Pro" experience to develop the Arab and African film industry.
On another note, Tarek Ben Chaabane also highlighted the activities of the "Carthage Film Festival in Prisons", which landed in its latest version in several prison units: the Civil Prison in Mornaguia, the Civil Prison in Sawaf, the Civil Prison in Kasserine, the Civil Prison in Bourj Erroumi, the Civil Prison in Messaadine, the Rehabilitation Center in Sidi El Hani and the Civil Prison in Mannouba to screen 6 films, in partnership with the General Directorate of Prisons and Rehabilitation and the World Organization Against Torture Office of Tunisia.
In closing, our artistic advisor spoke about the “Carthage Film Festival in the regions”. A Festival’s "tradition" that returns to the main menu of this Nejib Ayed edition with a new strategy fit to make it more efficient and sustainable but also eager to plant fruitful seeds in other regions namely Bizerte, Jendouba, Mahdia and Gafsa.
After that, the Festival’s Artistic Director, Lamia Guiga gave us a quick glimpse describing the festival in numbers and announced that 674 Arab and African films produced between 2018 and 2019 have applied to participate in the official competitions.
The total number of films programmed in the different sections of this edition, whether registered via the official Carthage Film Festival website or acquired for screening in various sections reached 170 films.
Lamia Guiga also pointed out that 44 films have been selected for the four Official Competitions and were divided as follows: 12 feature films, 12 feature documentaries, 12 short films and 8 short documentaries.
In the "Special Look at Tunisian Cinema” section, 09 films were selected by an independent panel.
Juries
During the press conference, the Festival’s committee announced the juries of the 4 official competitions composed of 15 filmmakers (producers, directors, scriptwriters and actors).
The Grand Jury is headed by the French Senegalese director Alain Gomis who will be surrounded by the Tunisian director Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, the Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada, the Moroccan director Meryem Benm’Barek, the Algerian actor Hassan Kachach as well as the Zimbabwean filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembg and the Lebanese actress Yasmine Khlat.
The 5-member documentary jury is however presided over by the director of the MENA Media Fund, Jerome Gary, who will work with the Carthage Film Festival’s director for 2012 Mohamed Mediouni, the film critic Djia Mambu, the Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam and the director Jean-Marie Téno.
The First Feature Film Jury (Taher Cheriaa Awards) consists of 3 members headed by the Palestinian Swedish producer and director of the Malmo Arab Film Festival, Mouhamed Keblawi. At his side, the Tunisian actress and producer Anissa Daoud and the Rwandan scriptwriter, director and producer Joel Karekezi.
Carthage Pro
Tarek Ben Chaabane resumed with details about the “Carthage Pro” program including “Carthage Talks” which extended its format to echo the vision of the late Nejib Ayed. “Carthage Talks”, from October 27 till November 1 will be a forum where regional and international practitioners will convene to share their experience, knowledge and expertise through a series of curated think tanks, panels, study cases and networking events.
From “Carthage Pro”, the Festival’s Artistic advisor moved to “Engage@jcc” program which opens reflections on the current challenges and future perspectives of African and Arab cinema from a critical standpoint.
On the other hand, ‘Carthage Docs’ and the Short Talk panel, create dedicated slots to accompany the active and thriving culture around documentaries and short films, underlining the rightful importance of these genres.
Following the footsteps of Chabaka and Takmil, both invested in empowering and foregrounding the voices of African and Arab cinema talents by giving a range of experts the opportunity to encounter emerging talents from the region.
Talking about ‘Chabaka’ which will be carried from October 28 to 30 , Tarek Ben Chaabane said that this workshop continues its support for the duo "director-producer" coming from African and Arab countries, who are appealing to the expertise and advice of audiovisual specialists. The workshop will end with a pitching live session in front of an international jury for getting financial production grants. The Awards are offered by our partners; The National Center of Cinema and Image (CNCI), The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung and TV5 Monde.
‘Takmil’ workshop is conceived as a platform that presents African and Arab feature films in the phase of post-production. The 6th edition of Takmil will be held from October 28 to 30, 2019. For three days, the screenings of the selected works in progress will be followed by a discussion between the duos director/producer with a carefully chosen international jury. These discussions are intended to propose constructive and inspiring exchanges for the finishing of their films. On October 30, the jury awards grants for postproduction to the films they consider the most promising.
The Press Conference of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival was dedicated to the memory of its late director and brilliant producer Nejib AYED. In fact, the Festival programs follow the journey he began according to the same vision and strong pillars he established to encourage openness to world cinemas and support the film industry platforms and distribution market.
Further to the Press conference of the 2019 Carthage Film Festival edition, the General direction of the National Center of Cinema and Image (CNCI) expresses its appreciation and gratitude to all the partners who have shown interest, support and contribute to the success of this special edition dedicated to the late Nejib AYED. Their commitment to the director of the JCC and the organizing team committee has made us stronger and more confident for the implementation of a rich and varied program dedicated to cinema lovers.
We would first like to express our heartfelt thanks to Tunisie Telecom, the official and privileged partner of the CNCI, the JCC and the Tuninsian Cinémathèque. In addition to its unwavering support for JCC, Tunisie Telecom supports the CNCI throughout the year for the past three years in setting up a strategy for the development of digital creative industries as a technological pioneer and platform broadcasting of digital content. We would particularly like to thank Tunisie Telecom for the attention addressed to the JCC family, by offering through its communication agency the official poster of the "Néjib Ayed" session.
We also give credit to La Poste Tunisienne, our official partner who ensures the JCC E-ticket sales through its Tikashop online service.
Of course, all our sincere appreciation goes as well to Tunisair, the Festival’s international official carrier and one of the strongest supporter of Culture inj Tunisia.
We are grateful to “La Société Tunisienne de Banque” (STB) who joined the JCC adventure as a strategic partner.
On another note, we would like to thank deeply all our NGO partners namely: the UNICEF, the IOM and the WOAT for their trust and valuable collaboration to make our Festival a space for sharing and communication around various issues affecting humanity.
As well, we are very grateful to all of our precious partners: ONTT, TOPNET, OACA, Institut Français de Tunis, OIF, UNIFRANCE, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Art Academy of Carthage, the US Embassy, FATALES, TOYOTA, JTI, Hotel AFRICA and BeTounsi.
We warmly thank the faithful partners of the professional platform "Carthage Pro" for their contribution: OIF, IOM, IMS, Robert Bosh, LaserFilm, Charbon Studio, TV5MONDE, The Goethe Institute, Programmers of Color Collective, Hakka Distribution, AJAR and Culture Funding Watch.
Our sincere thanks go also to our national and international media partners, namely: La Télévision Tunisienne, El Hiwar Ettounsi, TV5MONDE, la Radio Tunisienne, Mosaique FM and Misk Radio.
We equally commend all those who have shown enthusiasm to turn the JCC 2019 into a platform for exchange and outreach of the Arab and African film industry.
Finally, we extend our gratitude to the Minister of Cultural Affairs for his commitment and support to the 2019 Carthage Film Festival’s Steering Committee and Organizing Team and for making available to the JCC all the spaces of the Cité de la Culture.
On behalf of the CNCI and the JCC
Chiraz Latiri
DG of the CNCI
“An exceptional session”, this is exactly what describes this session of the Carthage Film Festival (2019) dedicated to Nejib Ayed. In fact,
15 exceptional filmmakers among producers, directors, screenwriters anactors will be members of the 3 official competitions’ juries.
The Grand Jury
The Grand Jury will be headed by the French Senegalese director Alain Gomis who is one of the leading French film directors having African roots. The works of Gomis
already participated in major international festivals such as Toronto, Sundance and San Francisco and his film “Félicité” earned him the Best Actress prize which
went to Veronique Tshanda Beya Mputu at the Carthage Film Festival 2017.
Our president of the Grand Jury, Gomis, will be surrounded by other key figures notably Mahmoud Ben Mahmoud, the winner of the golden Tanit for his film “Fatwa” during
the previous session of the Carthage Film Festival, and by the Japanese filmmaker Koji Fukada whose film “Harmonium” won the Prix du Jury in the « Un Certain Regard”
section of the Cannes Film Festival 2016.
Will also join the ride: Meryem Benm'barek, director of the prize-winning film "Sofia" in the Carthage Film Festival, as well as the Algerian actor having important
film credits between Tunisia and Algeria Hassan Kachach, mostly known for his films “C'était la guerre” and “ Les Palmiers blesses”.
The Grand Jury will also include the Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga. This great figure of African feminist cinema is much famous for her rich
artistic experience as an executive director of the Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe Organization and as the founder of the ‘International Images Film Festival for Women’
in Harare.
The Grand Jury for the Nejib AYED session will be complete with the screenwriter and Lebanese actress Yasmine Khlat, who previously played in the film "Aziza" by
Tunisian director Abdellatif Ben Ammar.
Documentary Jury
As for the 5-member documentary jury, it is presided over by the director of the MENA Media Fund, Jerome Gary, whose documentary "Generation Iron" depicting the career
of Arnold Schwarzenegger, was nominated for the 2013 Oscars. At his side, the Tunisian Theater man and director of the Carthage Film Festival 2012, Mohamed Mediouni,
as well as the film critic Djia Mambu, responsible for programming at the Congo International Film Festival (CIFF) and Jury Member of the Critics' Week of
the 72nd Cannes Film Festival (May 2019).
The fourth member of the Documentary Jury is the Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam who is member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences and winner of the Golden Tanit
for his film "Amal" selected as the best documentary film in the Carthage Film Festival 2018.
Jean-Marie Teno, who offered the cinema more than 15 short and feature films and documentaries between Cameroon, France and the United States is also member
of the documentary jury. His film "Head in the clouds" was awarded in both Carthage Film Festival 1994 and FESPACO 1995.
First Feature Film Jury (Taher Cheriaa awards)
The First Feature Film Jury (Taher Cheriaa awards) consists of three members and is headed by the Palestinian Swedish producer and director of the Malmö Arab Film Festival
Mouhamed Keblawi. At his side, the Tunisian actress, playwright and producer Anissa Daoud who presented her first short film "Best Day ever" at the opening of the Directors'
Fortnight (Cannes 2018) as part of the "Tunisia Factory" program.
The third member of the First Feature Film Jury is Joel Karekezi, scriptwriter, director and producer from Rwanda. His films painted Rwandan reconciliation and genocide
against Tutsis. His second feature film "The Mercy of the Jungle" won the highest award at the Pan-African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO2019)
after being screened at the Cannes Film Factory in Cannes in 2013.
The Carthage Film Festival announces the list of projects selected for the Takmil 2019 – Work-in-progress workshop, a Carthage PRO event the professional platform
of the JCC.
List of selected projects:
Held on October 28, 29 et 30, 2019, the "TAKMIL" workshop will host African and Arab films, fiction and documentary, in the postproduction phase. Selected filmmakers and producers will be invited to Tunis to meet professionals from the international film industry and will present their films to a jury. Post-production grants will be awarded to the winners.
The Carthage Film Festival announces the list of projects selected for the CHABAKA 2019 coproduction workshop; a Carthage PRO Event, the professional platform of the JCC.
List of selected projects:
Held on October 28, 29 and 30, 2019, the "CHABAKA" coproduction workshop will host African and Arab fiction and documentary projects in the development phase. Participants will be invited to Tunis to meet professionals from the international film industry, in particular producers interested in financing African and Arab films. Starting this year, grants will be awarded to the winners.
Cannes the 22/05/2019
Today, May 22, 2019, the press conference of Carthage Film Festival took place on the Tunisian
cinema pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival.
Chaired by Néjib Ayed, Director General of the festival, the conference presented the 2019 session to journalists,
film critics and film industry professionals, attending the world's largest film festival.
Topics discussed included the general guidelines of the festival which is still as militant and committed as the founding fathers intended it
to be in 1966.
In addition to the official selection that will undoubtedly be exceptional, given the rich Arab and African production of the year 2019,
the conference presented the upcoming activities for the professional platform Carthage Pro. With Chabaka the co-production workshop, Takmil,
the works-in-progress projects, the Carthage Talks discussion panels will offer professionals topical subjects, while the Masterclasses will invite
three big names in cinema to talk about their art to an audience of students and young film makers. Finally, the big international conference will
focus on copyrighting.
The FOCUS section of the JCC will have four countries as guests of honor. Lebanon for the Arab world, Nigeria for Sub-Saharan Africa,
Chile for Latin America and Japan for Asia.
The next JCC session will take place from October 26 to November 2, 2019.
Following the programming of Tunisian film Tlamess by Ala Eddine on May 21 at 11:45 am, the Carthage Film Festival JCC announces that its press conference for the 2019 session, scheduled at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21st, is postponed to May 22, 2019 at 11am in the Tunisian Cinema Pavilion, 105 Riviera.
