Namur International Francophone Film Festival: Two Tunisian films in the running

One hundred and twenty films between short and feature-length fiction, animation and documentaries: this is what the 39 offers^e International Francophone Film Festival (FIFF) in Namur, Belgium, to its audience, from September 27 to October 4, with the aim of sharing cinema, in real life and on a grand scale. Two Tunisian films are in the running, “Les enfants rouges” by Lotfi Achour in Official Competition and “Là d’où on vient” (Mé el Aïn) by Meryam Joobeur, selected in Section 1^era artwork.

The kick-off of this film festival, rich in events and meetings with professionals, will be given by the French feature film “En Fanfare”, a light and popular comedy by Emmanuel Courcol. “Thibaut is an internationally renowned conductor. When he learns that he has been adopted, he discovers the existence of a brother, Jimmy, a school canteen employee who plays the trombone in a brass band. On the surface, everything separates them except their love of music. Detecting his brother’s exceptional musical abilities, Thibaut makes it his mission to repair the injustice of fate. Jimmy then begins to dream of another life.”

Then, it’s time for the different sections of the festival between Official Competition, 1^era work, Fiff Première, Special Screenings, Short Film Weekend and others. 12 feature films from different cultures, from several continents, Europe, Africa and America, were selected in Official Competition and are thus competing for the Bayard d’Or, including the Tunisian film “Les enfants rouges” by Lotfi Achour, a drama “inspired by true events and firmly anchored in a merciless social context, “Les enfants rouges” is a dreamlike dive into the damaged psyche of a child and his incredible ability to overcome trauma.”

Other films in official competition: “Didy” by François Xavier Destors and Gaël Kamilindi, (Rwanda, Switzerland, France), a work on exile, uprooting, filiation and transmission focusing on the memory of a mother that a 5-year-old child did not have time to know. “Disco Afrika: a Malagasy story” by Luck Razanajaona is a committed work telling the story of an 18-year-old Malagasy miner while revealing his fragility, his pain, his wanderings in an unequal, unstable and corrupt political and social context.

“Their Children After Them” by Ludovic and Zoran Boukherma (France), selected in official competition at the Venice Film Festival, is an adaptation of the famous novel of the same name by Nicolas Mathieu (Prix Goncourt). The film tells the story of the summers spent in eastern France by three teenagers in search of emancipation in the 1990s. “This film, marked by melancholy, addresses the themes of adolescence and social reproduction in a town in Lorraine marked by deindustrialization.”

“Planet B” by French director Aude-Léa Rapin oscillates between the science fiction and thriller genres and projects itself into France in the year 2039 where, during a night, activists, hunted by the State, disappear without leaving a trace. Julia Bombarth is among them. When she wakes up, she finds herself locked in a completely unknown world: Planet B. “Saint-ex” by Argentinian Pablo Aguëro is a Franco-Belgian co-production depicting Antoine Saint-Exupéry’s quest for his best friend who disappeared in the Andes, Saint-Ex decides to go looking for him despite everything”. The author of “The Little Prince” is played by Louis Garell.

Competition 1^era artwork

Eight first films were selected in “Competition 1^era work” including the Tunisian film “Mé el Aïn” (Where We Come From) by Meryam Joobeur. It is a drama that takes place in a remote village in the country and focuses on the family of Aicha and Brahim whose “life is turned upside down by the unexplained departure of their sons, who have left for an unspeakable war. When one of them returns with a mysterious veiled and mute fiancée, the parents decide to keep this return a secret. But Bilal, a police officer and long-time friend, is investigating disturbing events. His suspicions soon put him on the trail of the family.”

Other early works: “Horia” by Bulgarian Ana-Maria Comanescu focuses on adolescence by filming Horia’s escape from home on her father’s motorcycle and meeting Stella, 13, who is also fleeing her family. “Niki” by French director Céline Salette is a biopic of visual artist and director Niki de Saint Phalle, the events take place in Paris in 1952, “Niki has settled in France with her husband and daughter far from a stifling America and family. But despite the distance, Niki is regularly shaken by memories of her childhood that invade her thoughts. In the hell she is about to discover, Niki will find in art a weapon to free herself.”

“Rough Diamonds” by Agathe Riedinger (France), “Hunting Day” by Quebecer Annick Blanc, “My Father Is Not Dead” by Moroccan Adil Fadhili, “Little Jaffna” by Frenchman Lawrence Valin and “The Amazon” by Belgian directors Émilie Maréchal and Camille Meynard complete the selection in this section.

In addition to the “Short Film Competition”, which is an invitation to discover new talent in the French-speaking world, the “Fiff Première” section offers a selection of six feature-length fiction films that will be screened as a premiere before their theatrical release, including the opening films, “En Fanfare” mentioned above, and the closing films: “Quand vient l’Automne” by François Ozon. The French director “plays here on ambiguity by placing the cursor on the side of the instinct for life rather than on the possible weight of guilt. “Angelo, dans la forêt mystérieuse” by Alexis Ducord and Vincent Paronnaud (Luxembourg), “Le Garçon” by Zabou Breitman and Florent Vassault, “Ollie” by Antoine Besse and “Une part disparue” by Guillaume Senezs are the other films in this section.

Another objective of the Fiff of Namur: to create and strengthen the network of professionals of the 7^e Art through workshops and meetings, the festival offers members of the profession a workspace allowing them to exchange and compare their points of view in order to develop international relations. Apart from the meetings and exchanges, the Fiff is above all an opportunity to reconcile with the cinemas and to see the films in real life and on a large scale.