The Carthage Cinematographic Days (JCC) version 2024 have unveiled their program.
A meeting with the media at the Salle des Jeunes Créateurs (Cité de la Culture) made it possible to present the broad outlines and details of the programming of the 35th edition of the festival which will be held from December 14 to December 21, 2024, in the presence of the Honorary president of the days Férid Boughedir, artistic director Lamia Belkaied Guiga and artistic advisor Mohamed Tarek Ben Châabane.
In front of an audience of national and international journalists who came in large numbers, the honorary president of the JCC, Férid Boughedir paid a vibrant tribute to the late Khémais Khayati, journalist and Tunisian film critic, pillar of the JCC since their creation in 1966. Boughedir recalled his essential role as director of the daily life of the JCC during several editions and dedicated this 35th edition to his memory.
While presenting the main points of this edition, Boughedir focused on the new features, namely the addition of a new section, alongside the traditional Arab-African competition, that of the “ national competition » thus highlighting the dynamism of the Tunisian cinema scene and its creativity.
Highlighting the exceptional number of Tunisian films participating in this edition, the honorary president announced that a new section has been added “ Panorama 34 » in order to allow moviegoers to discover all Tunisian production (commercial or author) for the year 2023, the year when the edition of the JCC was canceled in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Reaffirming the soul and vocation of the JCC, the first film festival in Africa and the Arab world dedicated to committed cinema, rooted in its African and Arab identity, Boughedir presented the program of national cinematographies invited for this edition: Celle Senegal, Jordan and Palestine. The latter, placed “at the heart of the JCC “, will benefit from special programming including a tribute to filmmaker Hany Abu-Assad, as well as screenings in theaters and in the ” cinema avenue “free from Avenue Habib Bourguiba.
In the same context of tributes and celebrations, The 35th edition will highlight the journey of Tunisian director Jilani Saadi, with a dedicated retrospective, as well as tributes to filmmakers Ababacar Samb Makharam (Senegal), Merzak Allouache (Algeria), and Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Iran).
Of the ” Special sessions » will be devoted to the latest films by Palestinian filmmaker Rachid Masharawi, Tunisian pioneer Selma Baccar and the documentary produced and directed by actress Dorra Zarrouk on “ Refugees from Gaza ».
By presenting the list of films selected for the official and national competitions, as well as the respective juries, the artistic director, Lamia Belkaied Guiga, highlighted the richness and quality of the programming for this 35th edition. She underlined that the selection, whether films in competition or out of competition, was made while respecting the identity of the festival, highlighting auteur cinema and committed works. Lamia Belkaied Guiga underlined the importance given to the documentary genre in the festival, affirming that this emphasis reflects an assumed choice and in perfect harmony with the vocation of the JCC: to be “the memory of the Arab and African peoples” as well as ” the voice of just causes and humanist values ».
Furthermore, the artistic director presented a new section in the festival reflecting the JCC’s support for new experiences and films dealing with ecological issues, namely « JCC Extended » including animated cinema, “ Virtual Reality » (VR) and immersive cinema, as well as “JCC Green”, cinema related to issues of the environment and ecology.
By evoking the opening film of the JCC 2024, the feature-length documentary “ The Freedom Giver » (The Liberator) by the late Iraqi director Kays Alzubaydi, screened as a World Premiere in its restored version, the artistic director recalled that this film was programmed as part of the new section “ JCC Classic – Restored films “. This choice is also part of the tribute paid to this pioneer of Arab documentary cinema, who died on December 1, 2024.
In conclusion, the artistic advisor, Mohamed Tarek Ben Châabane, presented the main axes of Carthage Pro, the JCC professional platform, created in 1992 to support the development of African and Arab cinema. Dedicated to supporting professionals and emerging talents, Carthage Pro offers a space for meeting, training and networking with industry experts. Structured around programs such as Chabaka (co-production workshop) and Takmil (post-production workshop), this initiative illustrates the JCC’s upstream and downstream commitment to bold and committed cinema, by supporting promising projects at different stages of their realization.
