Tunisia: 27th Carthage film festival

It is the opening ceremony of the 27th Carthage Film Festival (JCC) in Tunisia, a warm festive that always speaks of its time.

The festival which also marks its 15th anniversary is reserved for Arab filmmakers and Africans, a period of showcasing major culture in Tunisia.

“It is the twenty-seventh edition, but we are also celebrating the 15th anniversary. And the number is also a return of memory. A return on how the Carthage Film Festival have seen better and worse days in term of cinematography in the Arab African region’” said Brahim letaief, Director Carthage film festival.

It is the twenty-seventh edition, but we are also celebrating the 15th anniversary. And the number is also a return of memory. A return on how the Carthage Film Festival have seen better and worse days in term of cinematography.

The Cinema projecting the films in competition are generally taken by assault during the festival, which will last until November 5. The festival is marked by the presence of stars like Tunisian Dorra Zarrouk and Egyptian Gamil Rateb who parade on the red carpet of the Palais des Congress at Tunis.

“There are Michel Khleifi, Idrissa Ouedraogo. There is the family of Youssef Chahine there. The players who have acted with Youssef Chahine. This is for me is a festival so back in memory. Because people with no memory is people that cannot build its future but paraden the red carpet of the Palais des Congress at Tunis” said letaief.

The official competition account for 68 films, including 18 long-films among which, deal with issues on terrorism. This year, projection which will be programmed in prisons is a race to excellence.

“There is a war also between the festivals. A friendly war, that is to say that for having a maximum of before premieres and we work as organizers, it is also to be able to reward this magnificent public of Arab and African at least.’‘ letaief added.

Security has been strengthened in the center of the event. Last year, during the JCC, a Tunisian suicide bomb was detonated in the presidential guard’s bus in the heart of Tunis, killing 12 of its officials.The incident occurred a few hundred meters away from the venue of the festival.

It is true that for decades, the influence of the state on the JCC has left its mark. Institutional leaders and actors of cultural civil society are aware of the problems and the needs of the festival and they are working together to contribute to the construction of the new Carthage Film Festival.

So it remains the most coveted artistic event in Africa and the Arab world and the largest in number of participants and movie goers.

This is a festival in need of independence and stability that will help in the decision making process in order to live up to its historical responsibilities.

50 years later, more than ever, the question of autonomy for the Carthage Film Festival is on the agenda.