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Sahara International Film Festival

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The Sahara International Film Festival, also known as FiSahara, is an annual event which takes place in the Sahrawi refugee camps, at the southwest corner of Algeria, near the border with Western Sahara. It is the only film festival in the world held in a refugee camp.[1][2] The first festival was in large part organised by Peruvian film director Javier Corcuera.[3]

Sahara International Film Festival
Festival de Cine del Sáhara
الصحراء السينمائي الدولي
LocationSahrawi refugee camps
FoundedNovember 2003
AwardsWhite Camel
LanguageInternational
Websitefisahara.es
The Spanish actress Verónica Forqué at the 2007 edition festival.

For its first three years, FiSahara was held alternately in the Wilaya of Smara, the Wilaya of Ausserd, and the Wilaya of El Aaiún. Since 2007, the festival has been staged in the Wilaya of Dajla. The event is backed by the Polisario Front,[3] but largely organised and funded by donors from Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara. The festival has attracted support from Spanish film celebrities, including Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Pedro Almodóvar.[citation needed] Musicians like Fermín Muguruza,[4][5] Manu Chao,[2] Macaco,[6] Iván Ferreiro,[7] El Chojin[8] and Tomasito[9] have performed in concerts during the festival.

FiSahara is billed as an initiative to bring film as an entertainment and cultural form to the thousands of Sahrawis who live in the Algerian desert. It also aims to provide cultural entertainment and educational opportunities to the refugees.

In 2010, a twinning agreement was signed between the FiSahara and the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival.[10]

White Camel winners

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Not to be confused with White Camel award.

The White Camel (Arabic: الجمل الأبيض) is the festival's top prize, awarded for the best film by election of the spectators.[11] It consists of a white female camel, which is traditionally donated to the refugee family who hosted the actors or director of the winning film during the festival. The winners receive a trophy depicting a white camel and a desert rose.

Year Date Film Nationality Director
2003 20–23 November The Living Forest   Spain Ángel de la Cruz
Manolo Gómez
2004 December (Not Held) N/A N/A N/A
2005 3–6 March Madame Brouette   Senegal
  France
  Canada		 Moussa Sene Absa
2006 5–9 April The Story of the Weeping Camel   Mongolia
  Germany		 Byambasuren Davaa
Luigi Farloni
2007 10–15 April Azur & Asmar: The Princes' Quest   France
  Belgium
  Spain
  Italy		 Michel Ocelot
2008 17–20 April It's a Free World...   United Kingdom Ken Loach
2009 5–10 May Che: Part 2   United States
  Spain
  France		 Steven Soderbergh
2010 26 April-2 May The Problem   Spain Jordi Ferrer
Pablo Vidal
2011 2–8 May Entrelobos   Spain
  Germany		 Gerardo Olivares
2012 1–6 May Sons of the Clouds: The Last Colony   Spain Alvaro Longoria
2013 8–13 October Mayibuye I   South Africa Milly Moabl
2014 29 April–4 May Legna: Habla el Verso Saharaui[12]   Sahrawi Republic
  Spain		 Juan Robles
Bahia Awah
Juan Carlos Gimeno
2015 28 April-3 May Granito: How to Nail a Dictator   United States Pamela Yates
2016 11–16 October Ladjouad   Sahrawi Republic Brahim Chegaf
2022 11–16 October[13] Wanibik, the people who live in front of their land[14]   Algeria Rabeh Slimani
2024 29 Abril – 5 May[15] 200 meters   Palestine Ameen Nayfeh, Ahmad Al-Bazz

Guest country

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In some years, the festival has chosen a country to be a guest in the event. In such cases, films from the guest country are screened, and related events take place along with the other acts in the festival.

Year Guest Country
2006   Cuba[16][17]
2009   Algeria[18][19]
2010   South Africa[20][21]
2011   Venezuela[22][23]
2012   Mexico[24][25]
2013   United States[26]
2014   South Africa[27]
2023   Spain[1]
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  • "FiSahara, International Film Festival, Festival international de Cine". fisahara.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  • "Objective FiSahara English" (PDF). donostia.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved 22 December 2023. The International Sahara Film Festival (FISahara), which began in 2002, is a personal initiative inspired by the President of the State Coordinator of Associated Friends of the Sahara (CEAS), who, without a doubt, discovered how to generate a current of enthusiasm and cohesion among the various active parties within Spanish cinema. 24-page book about the FiSahara festival, with texts by Javier Bardem, Javier Corcuera, Eduardo Galeano, Juan Carlos Izagirre, Paul Laverty, and others.
  • Bollero Real, David. "Sáhara Occidental: La Revolución del Cine o el Cine de la Revolución (translation: West Sahara: Revolution of the Cinema or Cinema of the Revolution)" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  • Simanowitz, Stefan (May 3, 2009). ""The Devil's Garden": Preview of the Sahara Film Festival". prospectmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  • Simanowitz, Stefan; Santaolalla, Isabel. "A Cinematic Refuge in the Desert: The FiSahara Film Festival (from St Andrew's University's Film Festival Yearbook 2011)". scribd.com. Scribd.Inc (digital document library), San Francisco, USA. Retrieved 22 December 2023. During the 1960s, when decolonisation movements were sweeping the world, there was a joke that, after achieving independence, a country had to do three things: design a flag, launch an airline and found a film festival (Rich 1999: 79). Western Sahara has a flag but no airline and, despite a struggle that has lasted over three decades, it has yet to achieve independence. The closest Western Sahara comes to its own film festival is Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara (FISahara) (www.festivalsahara.com), a festival like no other that takes place in a refugee camp in the middle of the desert.

References

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  1. ^ a b "FiSahara, International Film Festival, Festival international de Cine". fisahara.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Con la presencia di Javier Bardem. Comienza 'Fisahara 2008', el único festival de cine en un campo de refugiados". El Mundo (in Spanish). Mundinteractivos, S.A. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Laverty, Paul (March 2004). "First International Sahara Film Festival". Review of African Political Economy. 31 (99): 175–180. Archived from the original on 2004-11-07. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ^ Me gusta el Sáhara, me gustas tú Archived 2013-10-12 at the Wayback Machine Cine entre las dunas – El País, 23 April 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara (FiSahara) 2009 Radiochango.com (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Macaco actuará en la clausura del VI Festival Internacional de Cine Del Sahara (FiSAHARA) Archived 2013-07-04 at the Wayback Machine Macaco.es, 7 May 2009 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Ivan Ferreiro corona el desierto El Mundo, 3 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ El Chojin en FISAHARA 2011 Elchojin.net, 12 April 2011 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ El Canijo de Jerez y Tomasito en el Festival de Cine del Sahara Inzona.es, 1 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Objective Fisahara: Twinning between the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival and the Sahara International Film Festival, seen in pictures and first-hand accounts Archived 2013-10-11 at archive.today Donostia.org
  11. ^ Additional festival events Festivalsahara.com
  12. ^ ""Legna" film wins first award of FiSahara". Sahara Press Service. 4 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Announcement of return of "Fi-Sahara" Film Festival in its 17th edition". www.spsrasd.info. October 8, 2022. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  14. ^ "Wanibik, by the Algerian Rabah Slimani, wins the White Camel at the 17 edition of FiSahara". Fisahara. October 15, 2022. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  15. ^ "FiSahara 2024 embraces Palestine and awards the film '200 meters' with the White Camel". FI-Sahara. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  16. ^ Cuba: país invitado en el III Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara Somosjovenes.cu (in Spanish)
  17. ^ Cuba será el país invitado en el III Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara Rebelion.org, 13 March 2006 (in Spanish)
  18. ^ Arranca FiSahara 09 FiSahara.blogspot.com.es, 23 March 2009 (in Spanish)
  19. ^ FISAHARA 09 Archived 2014-03-27 at the Wayback Machine Vivir bien es un placer!!! (¡Hola!), 21 April 2009 (in Spanish)
  20. ^ El FCAT con el pueblo saharaui en el FiSahara 2010 Archived 2012-07-08 at the Wayback Machine African Film Festival of Tarifa (in Spanish)
  21. ^ FiSahara, el festival de cine que se celebra en un campamento de refugiados 20 minutos, 12 April 2010 (in Spanish)
  22. ^ Concluye el FiSahara 2011: entre el cine y la reivindicación Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 9 May 2011 (in Spanish)
  23. ^ FiSahara: cine bajo las estrellas ABC, 4 May 2011 (in Spanish)
  24. ^ "No conseguirán atemorizar al FiSahara" Público (EFE), 2 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  25. ^ La delegación de México en el FiSahara afirma su determinación de romper el silencio informativo en el Sáhara Occidental Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Sahara Press Service, 3 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  26. ^ Decade after: FiSahara achieved international status, confirms Saharawi Culture Minister Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Sahara Press Service, 10 July 2013
  27. ^ South Africa guest of honor of FiSahara 2014 and Nelson Mandela honored in the occasion SADR Permanent Mission in Ethiopia and African Union, 9 April 2014
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