ROME: Movies from Morocco and Tunisia have been nominated as Best Foreign Film at the 28th edition of the first Italian Film festival dedicated to Mediterranean cinematography.
“Le Bleu Du Caftan” by Maryam Touzani, from Morocco, and “Under The Fig Trees” by Erige Sehiri, from Tunisia, were nominated for a special prize at the MedFilm Festival, which begins on Nov. 3 and will continue for ten days with a series of screenings and debates in some cinemas of the Italian capital and on online platforms.
MedFilm is Rome’s longest-running film festival. It is centered on the promotion of Mediterranean and Middle East cinema. The 2022 event will also showcase a number of professional meetings, university masterclassess, encounters with young talents and great masters of cinema, literature presentations, and conferences on today’s most burning issues.
“Le Bleu Du Caftan” will open the screenings of year’s edition at the Savoy theater. Lubna Azabal, the movie’s main character, will be the guest of honor. She will be awarded the 2022 Career Award and will hold a masterclass on Nov. 4.
Director Maryam Touzani was in Tangier in 1980; after studying communication and journalism in London she made her film debut with “Adam,” premiered in the official selection of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. “Le Bleu Du Caftan” is her second film.
“Under The Fig Trees,” directed by Franco-Tunisian Erige Sehiri, will be screened on Nov. 4. It is the first fictional film for Sehiri, who has previously won numerous post-production awards at the Venice Film Festival.
“Rome and Lazio, the second-top European region in terms of investment in the audiovisual sector, are pleased to present this festival aiming to unite the Mediterranean,” said Paolo Orneli, councillor for economic development, trade and crafts, universities, research, start-ups and innovation of the Lazio region, at a news conference attended by Arab News.
Laurence Hart, liaison officer for the Mediterranean section of the International Organization for Migration, said that the organization was proud to be supporting the festival for the third time.
“Art and culture are ways to build bridges and foster enriching exchanges,” he said.