Tunisian cinema triumphs at Fespaco 2023
A representative of director Youssef Chebbi receiving the Gold Stallion for the film "Ashkal", March 4, 2023. © OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT / AFP
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The Tunisian director Youssef Chebbi obtained Saturday in Ouagadougou the supreme award of Fespaco, the largest African film festival.
The 28th edition was held despite a heavy security context due to the jihadist violence that is undermining Burkina.
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Young director Youssef Chebbi won the Yennenga Gold Stallion for his film
Ashkal
.
Welcoming an "
extreme rigor
" and a "
work that is out of the ordinary
", the president of the jury, the Tunisian Dora Bouchoucha, specified that the Gold Standard had been awarded to Youssef Chebbi unanimously.
In this thriller set in the Jardins de Carthage in Tunis, a neighborhood abandoned after the fall of President Ben Ali in 2011, two police officers investigate mysterious immolations.
“
It's a detective story, but in fact it's about the Tunisian people
,” explained Dora Bouchoucha.
Selected for the fortnight of directors at the Cannes Film Festival in France,
Ashkal
also won the Antigone d'or, the highest award at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival (south-eastern France) in 2022.
The Tunisian director is ahead of two women,
the Burkinabè Apolline Traoré for
Sira
who receives the Silver Stallion, and the Kenyan Angela Wamai for
Shimoni
, awarded the Bronze Stallion.
Since its creation in 1969, no woman has won the supreme award of this great African film festival.
Fifteen fictions vied for the supreme reward
with a prize worth 20 million CFA francs (about 30,000 euros).
Success of Tunisian films
The male and female interpretation go to all the actors and actresses of
Sous les Figues
, by Tunisian director Erige Sehiri.
Tunisia therefore triumphs in this festival of African cinema, at a time when hundreds of nationals from sub-Saharan Africa are fleeing the country because of attacks and demonstrations of hostility following a violent charge by President Kaïs Saïed against the irregular migrants.
This 28th edition of the festival was held in a very heavy security context in Burkina, shaken by jihadist violence for several years.
Security devices, gates, excavations, armed soldiers and police, were put in place in front of the various places of the festival which welcomed 20,000 guests, according to the organization.
Despite this context, screenings took place with people displaced by jihadist attacks, in Kaya and Dédougou.
The next edition of Fespaco is scheduled to take place from February 22 to March 1, 2025.
► To read also: In Burkina Faso, a new call for peace during Fespaco 2023
Complete list of Fespaco
Yennenga Gold Stallion
Ashkal
by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)
silver standard
Sira
by Apolline Traoré (Burkina Faso)
Bronze Stallion
Shimoni
by Angela Wamai (Kenya)
Best Actor Award
Ensemble of the actors of
Under the figs
of Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)
Best Actress Award
All the actresses of
Under the figs
of Erige Sehiri (Tunisia)
Best Decor
Mami Wata
from Fiery Obasi (Nigeria)
Best Editing
Abu Saddam
by Nadine Khan (Egypt)
Best Screenplay
The blue of the caftan
by Maryam Touzani (Morocco)
Picture price
Mami Wata
from Fiery Obasi (Nigeria)
sound price
Ashkal
by Youssef Chebbi (Tunisia)
Best Music
Our lady of the Chinese shop
by Ery Claver (Angola)
Special Jury Mention
Look at the Stars
by David Constantin (Mauritius)
Poulain d'or fiction short film
Will my parents come to see me
, by Mo Harawe (Somalia)
Silver foal fiction short film
A doll
by Andriaminosa Hary and Joel Rakotovelo (Madagascar)
Bronze colt fiction short film
Tsutsue
by Amartei Armar (Ghana)
Feature Documentary Gold Standard
Omi Nobu/The New Man
by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck (Cape Verde)
Feature Documentary Silver Stallion
We, students
of Rafiki Fariala (Central African Republic)
Feature Documentary Bronze Stallion
Guardian of the Worlds
by Leïla Chaïbi (Algeria)
Poulain d'or documentary short film
Blind spot
of Lofti Achour (Tunisia)
Poulain d'argent documentary short film
Katanga nation of Beza Hailu Lemma (Ethiopia)
Documentary bronze colt short film
Kelasi
by Fransix Tenda Lomba (DRC)
Special Jury Mention
The envoy of God
by Amina Mamani (Niger) and
Cuba in Africa
by Negash Abdurahman (Ethiopia)
Paul Robeson Prize for Documentary Feature Film
The specter of Boko Haram
by Cyrielle Raingou (Cameroon)
Best Burkinabe Film
Laabli the Elusive
, by Luc Youlouka Damiba
Burkinabè best hope
The botanist
, by Floriane Zoundi
Revelation of Burkinabe cinema
Malla, as far as the night lasts
, by Dramane Ouédraogo
(
With
AFP)
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