Sahara International Film Festival

Sahara International Film Festival
Festival de Cine del Sáhara
الصحراء السينمائي الدولي
LocationSahrawi refugee camps
FoundedNovember 2003
AwardsWhite Camel
LanguageInternational
Websitefisahara.es
The Spanish actress Verónica Forqué at the 2007 edition festival.

The Sahara International Film Festival, also known as FiSahara, is an annual event which takes place in the Sahrawi refugee camps, at the southwest corner of Algeria, near the border with Western Sahara. It is the only film festival in the world held in a refugee camp.[1][2] The first festival was in large part organised by Peruvian film director Javier Corcuera.[3]

For its first three years, FiSahara was held alternately in the Wilaya of Smara, the Wilaya of Ausserd, and the Wilaya of El Aaiún. Since 2007, the festival has been staged in the Wilaya of Dajla. The event is backed by the Polisario Front,[3] but largely organised and funded by donors from Spain, the former colonial power in Western Sahara. The festival has attracted support from Spanish film celebrities, including Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, and Pedro Almodóvar.[citation needed] Musicians like Fermín Muguruza,[4][5] Manu Chao,[2] Macaco,[6] Iván Ferreiro,[7] El Chojin[8] and Tomasito[9] have performed in concerts during the festival.

FiSahara is billed as an initiative to bring film as an entertainment and cultural form to the thousands of Sahrawis who live in the Algerian desert. It also aims to provide cultural entertainment and educational opportunities to the refugees.

In 2010, a twinning agreement was signed between the FiSahara and the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival.[10]

  1. ^ "FiSahara, International Film Festival, Festival international de Cine". fisahara.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Con la presencia di Javier Bardem. Comienza 'Fisahara 2008', el único festival de cine en un campo de refugiados". El Mundo (in Spanish). Mundinteractivos, S.A. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Laverty, Paul (March 2004). "First International Sahara Film Festival". Review of African Political Economy. 31 (99): 175–180. Archived from the original on 2004-11-07. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ^ Me gusta el Sáhara, me gustas tú Archived 2013-10-12 at the Wayback Machine Cine entre las dunas – El País, 23 April 2008 (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara (FiSahara) 2009 Radiochango.com (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Macaco actuará en la clausura del VI Festival Internacional de Cine Del Sahara (FiSAHARA) Archived 2013-07-04 at the Wayback Machine Macaco.es, 7 May 2009 (in Spanish)
  7. ^ Ivan Ferreiro corona el desierto El Mundo, 3 May 2010 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ El Chojin en FISAHARA 2011 Elchojin.net, 12 April 2011 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ El Canijo de Jerez y Tomasito en el Festival de Cine del Sahara Inzona.es, 1 May 2012 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Objective Fisahara: Twinning between the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival and the Sahara International Film Festival, seen in pictures and first-hand accounts Archived 2013-10-11 at archive.today Donostia.org