IF I CLOSE MY EYES

54 minutes, 2016
Directors and Producers: Francesca MANNOCCHI and Alessio ROMENZI (Italy)

if i close my eyes rai3

Lebanon, with its 4 million inhabitants, has received about 1.2 million Syrian refugees – a figure humiliating for Europe, which, with its 500 million inhabitants, is constantly bickering about whether to allow 1 million, and which sees immigration as a threat rather than an opportunity.
“If I Close My Eyes” shows us the lives of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in particular the children the Lebanese school system cannot accommodate. Nearly 300,000 children – for whom the terrible memories of war will never be obliterated – are excluded from the school system. What will become of them? Will they be forced to work for a few dollars a day, or will we be able to offer them a future? The generation of refugee children is losing one of its fundamental rights: the right to education and study.

Italian journalist Francesca MANNOCCHI works for various Italian and international magazines and television programmes, including L’Espresso, Al Jazeera, MiddleEastEye, RAI 3 and SkyTg24. Her work focuses on migration and conflict zones. In recent years she has worked in Tunisia, Egypt, the Balkans, Iraq, Libya, Turkey and Lebanon. In 2015 she won the Premio Giustolisi, for her investigation into migrant trafficking and prisons in Libya, and in 2016 the prestigious Premiolino award for journalism.
Alessio ROMENZI is an Italian photographer who grew up in a small village in the Apennines. He worked as a technician in climate engineering and as a blacksmith before settling in the Middle East to cover the Arab Spring from its inception, particularly in Egypt and Libya. He later became interested in Syria. His work has been awarded by UNICEF (Photo of the Year) and twice by the World Press Photo and Pictures of the Year International. Alessio’s photos are regularly published in major international magazines and used by international humanitarian organizations.

CHILD MOTHER

90 minutes, 2016
Director : Yael KIPPER et Ronen ZARETZKY (Israel)
Production : Turtles Films (Israel)

“Child Mother” is about the now elderly women who were born in Morocco or the Yemen, and forced to marry while still very young. Memories of a lost childhood. When they were only 5, 6 or 10 years old, their parents tore them from the playground and married them to older men. They remember the violence and fear they experienced, getting pregnant at the age of 11 or 12, and becoming mothers while they were still children.

 

Yael KIPPER was born in 1969 in Israel. She studied at Tel-Aviv’s Camera Obscura art school. For the past fifteen years she has been directing and producing documentaries, among them “A Talent for the Land” (2014), “Displaced” (2008), “Shining Stars” (2008), “The Last Fighters” (2006).

Ronen Zaretzky also studied at Tel-Aviv’s Camera Obscura art school. He is a senior editor of the newspaper Haaretz. He is also senior editor of the investigative programme Uvda, broadcast on Keshet TV / Channel 2. He is also a producer and director: among his most recent documentaries: “A Talent for the Land” (2014), “Super Women” (2013), “Displaced” (2008), “The Last Fighters” (2006).

MPM Averroes jr 2016 Award

This 20th edition of the festival was under the sign of image education, with an unprecedented device that allowed 2500 high school students from the PACA region, Switzerland and the Mediterranean (Algeria, Egypt, Italy).
Among them, 1100 took part in the 4th edition du Prix MPM Averroès Junior, organized by CMCA and Des Livres Comme Des Idées association. Read more “MPM Averroes jr 2016 Award” →

SOLO

29 minutes, 2016
Director: Shelby BEN BRAHIM (Tunisia)
Production: Association Santé Sud (France), Picandcom (Tunisia)

From the family abuse to the abuse of medical staff, through the judgment that children suffer, “Solo” is a documentary film that presents the situation of single mothers in Tunisia. It brings together poignant accounts of these women and interviews with the authorities (public and religious), actors of associations, medical or academic advisor.
This film was made in March 2016 by Health South, with the financial support of the French Development Agency and the European Union, as part of a project to better social and professional integration of single mothers in the Maghreb.

 

Shelby BEN BRAHIM

Born in 1977 in Zarzis in southern Tunisia, and fascinated by the image from  young age, Shelby BEN BRAHIM is photographer.
She began her career as graphic designer at Xelios North Africa, leading company in the field of strong authentication and computer security, then she was promoted as artistic director.
In 2013, in company with Akram SAKJI, photographer and director of photography, they create an audiovisual production agency focused Picandcom communication, based in Sousse in Tunisia. The same year she made his first TV commercial on behalf of the Mövenpick Resort & Marine Spa Sousse.
Since the creation of the agency, Shelby BEN BRAHIM directed and participated in the creation of several TV commercials, corporate videos and recordings of cultural events.
In 2015, following the bombing of Sousse, he collaborated with BBC News and France 3 for coverage and BBC Panorama for the reconstruction of this tragic event. “Solo” is his first documentary as a director.

FAYROUZ, DAY OF GLORY

17 minutes, 2016
Director: Fouad Zaari (Morocco) and Hicham Ait Ouguerrab (Morocco)
Production: University Abdelmalek Essaadi – Tetouan (Morocco)

Fayrouz is a teacher in primary school in a remote village in the mountains of northern Morocco. Following her rich character of emotions and her experiences, the film is focused on the education system in Morocco and the relatinship with art as powerful instrument of criticism towards society.

Fouad Zaari and Hicham Ait Ouguerrab followed the Documentary Film Master to Abdelmalek Essaadi University of Tetouan.

CARNET DE ROUTE DANS LA SYRIE DE BACHAR AL…

17 minutes, 2015
Réalisation : Ksenia BOLCHAKOVA (Russie)
Production : France 24 (France)

The Russian offensive in Syria adds to a war that grinds the country for nearly five years. How is the situation of the population?
The reporter for France 24, Ksenia Bolchakova, was able to visit the cities controlled by the regim, accompanied by an assigned translator. The eyes and ears of the regime. It is in these special conditions Ksenia Bolchakova has travelled in the country of Bashar al-Assad. She has been able to visit the western areas remained under his control. In fact, she has never heard any criticism of the Syrian government or the President. Bashar al-Assad, in these parts. His portraits are everywhere. On storefronts, buildings, billboards, balconies, car windshield, strollers …
From south to north, along the Mediterranean Sea, support for the dictatorship seems flawless. As for those who might think differently – those who are not dead – they hide and be silent.
The France 24 journalist had the chance to visit several cities in the Syria that Bashar gained : Damascus Latakia to Homs Qardakha. Here is his travelogue.

Ksenia Bolchakova was born in Moscow. Journalist for 10 years, she made her beginning at BFMTV before leaving in 2010 to Russia where and until last September it covers news about this country and its close neighbors (Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia …). France 24 correspondent, Europe 1 and TSR also regularly collaborates with TF1, France Télévisions and various production companies for filming documentaries and reportages. Since his return to Paris in the fall of 2015, she made only stories as his “Roadmap in Syria of Bashar al-Assad” (France24) and turns to shows such as “Envoyé Spécial” and “Pièces à convictions” . It is licensed in Philosophy and a Master of Journalism from the Sciences-Po Paris School of Journalism.