The 23rd Nantes Festival of Three Continents opened on Tuesday in the ancient French city, with a gala event that included a screening of the Tunisian film Fatma by Khaled Ghorbal, according to AFP.
The film was also screened at the latest Cannes film festival, granting it major recognition in the cinema world.
“Fatma is a Tunisian woman living today grappling with her pitfalls, her joys and her sorrows, but animated by a very strong will to succeed,” Ghorbal told the press at the Cannes festival.
Egyptian star Noor Al Sherif was honored at the opening ceremony and several of his films will be screened during the event. Sherif performed in about 200 films, and also produced and directed the film Al A’ashiqan (The Two Lovers) in 1999.
Officials of the 23rd Nantes festival have chosen eight films to represent Sherif’s artistic career, including Hadoutah Misriyyah (Egyptian Story) directed by Yousef Shahin; Al A’r, directed by Ali Abdel Khaleq; and last but not least Lailah Sakhinah (Hot Night) and Darbet Shams (Sun Stroke), directed by the late Atef Al Tayyeb.
The fest will include a number of events, including the official contest in which the Moroccan film Hissan Al Rih (Wind Horse), directed by Daoud Awlad Siyad, will participate.
Wind Horse will be the only Arab film to participate in this contest.
The contest's final round will include eight films from China, India, Argentina, Chile, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, in addition to Iran, which will be represented by Abu Al Fadl Jalili through his film Delberan.
The festival awards will be announced at the closing ceremony in Nov. 27.
The festival will support 10 projects for young world producers including two Palestinian projects by Raad Andouni to produce his film Mar Hanna, costarring Laila Sansour and Dima Abu Ghosh, and the film Alf Hekayeh Wa Hekayeh (One Thousand and One Tales) by Rashid Mashharawi – Albawaba.com
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