Al Ard Film Festival

Last updated
Al Ard Film Festival
LOGO AL ARD SENZA DOC (3).svg
Location Cagliari, Sardinia
Founded2002
Most recent20th Edition, February 2024
AwardsBest Feature Documentary Film;

Best Short Documentary Film; Best Short Fiction Film;

Audience Award

Contents

Website https://alardfilmfestival.com/

Al Ard Film Festival is an international film festival aimed at popularising Palestinian and Arab culture and art. The festival takes place in Cagliari (Sardinia) once a year and has been organised since 2002 by the Associazione Amicizia Sardegna Palestina (Sardinia-Palestina Friendship Association), a volunteering organisation founded in 1997 in the Mediterranean island. [1]

One of the frequent guests of Al Ard Film Festival in Sardinia is Monica Maurer, who also directed films about the Palestinian revolution in the 1970s. [2]

History

The first edition of Al Ard (meaning "The Land" in Arabic) was held in Cagliari, and, since then, it has grown in popularity and international reach, attracting a diverse and engaged audience. The festival has become a beloved and eagerly anticipated annual event for the local community, and its success has helped to put Cagliari on the map as a destination for film enthusiasts even from outside the island.

Mission

Since its first edition, the mission of the event has been to promote fundamental rights, such as the right of self-determination, [3] with a particular focus on Palestine. Started as a small local event, over the years, Al Ard has become an international film festival, [4] and it is now among the most popular events about the Arab world in Southern Europe. [5] [6] [7]

Editions

The festival has been held annually since 2002 and has grown to become a major cultural event in the region. The 19th edition of Al Ard Film Festival took place in February 2023 at the Teatro Massimo in Cagliari. The festival attracts international guests, some of whom have been part of the Jury multiple times, such as Monica Maurer, Ibrahim Nasrallah, May Odeh, and many other were invited as filmmakers candidates for awards, such as Mai Masri, Sahera Dirbas, Mohammed Alatar, Kasim Abid, Elia Ghorbia, Linda Paganelli, Habib Ayeb, and many more.

Initially, until 2009, the festival was limited to showcasing Arab films, with a particular focus on Palestine, without awarding any prizes. [8] Since 2011, with the introduction of a jury, the festival concludes with an award ceremony, during which various accolades are presented. The jury is made up of film experts and Middle East specialists, who evaluate the competing films based on criteria that include cinematic quality and thematic depth related to the Middle East.

EditionYearDateAwards
12002?
22003?
32004?
4200524 - 26 November
520061 - 3 December
620087 - 9 February
720095 - 7 February
82010not held
9201115 - 19 February
  • Best Emerging Director
    Emiliano Sacchetti for A New Day Has Come | Italy, 2010
    Giulia Amati & Stephen Natarson for This is my Land… Hebron | Italy, 2010
  • Best Film About Palestine
    Gaza… Strophe by Samir Abdallah, Kheridine Mabrouk | France/Palestine, 2010
  • Best Documentary of the Festival
    Gaza Hospital by Marco Pasquini | Italy, 2009
1020126 - 10 March
  • Best Documentary of the Festival
    Tears of Gaza by Vibeke Lokkeberg | Norway, 2011
112013November
12201518 - 21 March
  • Audience Award:
    Striplife. Gaza in a day by Nicola Grignani, Alberto Mussolini, Luca Scaffidi, Valeria Testagrossa, Andrea Zambelli
1320169 - 12 March
1420177 - 11 March
15201817 - 24 March
  • Al Ard Award (best documentary of the Festival, assigned by the jury)
    Dream Fragments by Bahïa Bencheikh El-Fegoun (Algeria)
  • Palestine Award (best documentary about Palestine, assigned by the jury)
    Broken Dreams by Mohamed Harb (Palestine)
  • Emerging Director Award (assigned by the jury)
    Home by Berber Verpoest (Belgium)
  • Special Mentions of the Jury
    Bloody Basil by Elia Gorbiah (Palestine)
  • Sardegna Palestina Award (assigned by the Selection Board)
    Ghost Hunting by Raed Andoni (France, Palestine, Switzerland, Qatar)
16201911 - 16 March [9]
17202017 - 22 August
  • Audience Award (assigned by the audience)
    Between Two Crossings by Yasser Murtaja
  • Al Ard Award (best documentary of the Festival, assigned by the jury)
    Between Two Crossings by Yasser Murtaja
  • Palestine Award (best documentary about Palestine, assigned by the jury)
    On The Doorstep by Sahera Dirbas
  • Emerging Director Award (assigned by the jury)
    Imprisoning a Generation by Zelda Edmunds
  • Sardegna Palestina Award (assigned by the Selection Board)
    The Walls of Dheisheh by Clemence Lehec and Tamara Abu Laban
  • Echo of the Camp Award (assigned by the Selection Board )
    Ambience by Wisam Al Jafari
  • Handala Award (assigned by the Selection Board)
    Memory of the Land by Samira Badran
  • Special Mentions of the Jury:
    Aisle by Hisham Kayed
    Hummus by Abdel Lafi Seed Queen by Mariam Shahin
1820229 - 13 March
19202321-25 February
20202420-24 February
21202525 Feb - 1 Mar

References

  1. ↑ "Who we are". Associazione Amicizia Sardegna-Palestina. 13 March 2007.
  2. ↑ Alarda, L. T. (2021). On cinema and revolutions: Tricontinental militancy and the cinema of the palestinian revolution. Queen's University, Canada (Thesis). p. 65. ProQuest   2572536389.
  3. ↑ "Il mondo palestinese a Cagliari nei documentari "Al Ard DOC Film Festival"". L'Unione Sarda.it (in Italian). 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  4. ↑ "Cinema, storie dal Medio Oriente: per ragionare su diritti umani, la pace, oltre le bombe, i muri e l'odio". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  5. ↑ "Al Ard Film Festival". The Truth: LOST AT SEA. 2019-03-10. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
  6. ↑ Breaking Latest News (14 March 2022). "Arab-Palestinian film festival: in Cagliari wins the 2022 "Eye of the Storm" award". Breaking Latest News. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  7. ↑ La Nuova Sardegna. "Festival del cinema arabo-palestinese: a Cagliari vince il premio 2022 "Eye of the Storm"". La Nuova Sardegna (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-08-12.
  8. ↑ "VII Edition 2009 - When Al Ard was a Film Fair without Awards" . Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  9. ↑ "CINEMA. Dall'11 al 16 marzo la XVI edizione dell'Al Ard Doc Film Festival". NenaNews (in Italian). 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.