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]
 | |
| Location | Sahrawi refugee camps |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 2003 |
| Awards | White Camel |
| Language | International |
| Website | fisahara |
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
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 |
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[15][16] |
| 2009 | Algeria[17][18] |
| 2010 | South Africa[19][20] |
| 2011 |  Venezuela[21][22] |
| 2012 |  Mexico[23][24] |
| 2013 |  United States[25] |
| 2014 | South Africa[26] |
| 2023 | Spain[1] |
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.