Sahara International Film Festival
 | This article needs to be updated. (May 2019) |
 | |
| Location | Sahrawi refugee camps |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 2003 |
| Awards | White Camel |
| Language | International |
| Website | fisahara |
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] The first festival was in large part organised by Peruvian film director Javier Corcuera.[2]
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,[2] 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,[3][4] Manu Chao,[1] Macaco,[5] Iván Ferreiro,[6] El Chojin[7] and Tomasito[8] 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.[9]
White Camel winners
The White Camel (Template:Lang-ar) is the festival's top prize, awarded for the best film by election of the spectators.[10] 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.
Guest country
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[14][15]
|
| 2009 |  Algeria[16][17]
|
| 2010 |  South Africa[18][19]
|
| 2011 |  Venezuela[20][21]
|
| 2012 |  Mexico[22][23]
|
| 2013 |  United States[24]
|
| 2014 | South Africa[25]
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| 2023 |  Spain[26]
|
External links
- "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
- ^ a b Comienza 'Fisahara 2008', el único festival de cine en un campo de refugiados El Mundo, 18 April 2008 (in Spanish)
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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)
- ^ Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara (FiSahara) 2009 Radiochango.com (in Spanish)
- ^ 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)
- ^ Ivan Ferreiro corona el desierto El Mundo, 3 May 2010 (in Spanish)
- ^ El Chojin en FISAHARA 2011 Elchojin.net, 12 April 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ El Canijo de Jerez y Tomasito en el Festival de Cine del Sahara Inzona.es, 1 May 2012 (in Spanish)
- ^ 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
- ^ Additional festival events Festivalsahara.com
- ^ ""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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Cuba: país invitado en el III Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara Somosjovenes.cu (in Spanish)
- ^ Cuba será el país invitado en el III Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara Rebelion.org, 13 March 2006 (in Spanish)
- ^ Arranca FiSahara 09 FiSahara.blogspot.com.es, 23 March 2009 (in Spanish)
- ^ FISAHARA 09 Archived 2014-03-27 at the Wayback Machine Vivir bien es un placer!!! (¡Hola!), 21 April 2009 (in Spanish)
- ^ 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)
- ^ FiSahara, el festival de cine que se celebra en un campamento de refugiados 20 minutos, 12 April 2010 (in Spanish)
- ^ 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)
- ^ FiSahara: cine bajo las estrellas ABC, 4 May 2011 (in Spanish)
- ^ "No conseguirán atemorizar al FiSahara" Público (EFE), 2 May 2012 (in Spanish)
- ^ 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)
- ^ Decade after: FiSahara achieved international status, confirms Saharawi Culture Minister Archived 2014-04-13 at the Wayback Machine Sahara Press Service, 10 July 2013
- ^ 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
- ^ "FiSahara, International Film Festival, Festival international de Cine". fisahara.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2023.