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African Film Festival–FCAT award winners

From September 30, 2016 until November 18, 20167:30 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m.

Casa Árabe’s film schedule during the fall of 2016 is dedicated to the best cinema shown on Arab screens at the Thirteenth AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL - FCAT, held from May 26 to June 4, 2016

FCAT is an independent film festival that focuses its efforts on promoting and increasing awareness about films from Africa and the non-African Arab world in Spain and Latin America. The festival was first held in the year of 2004. Casa Árabe soon began its permanent film events in 2007, and since then it has closely collaborated with the FCAT to create joint film series and hold other activities at our Cordoba headquarters, where several editions of the film festival have taken place. At this latest edition in 2016, the FCAT is returning to its city of origin, Tarifa, and has opened up to the neighboring city of Tangiers in Morocco, in a further effort to bring Africa a bit closer to us here in Spain.

By organizing this film series, which includes four feature films produced in North Africa (two fictional films and two documentaries), Casa Árabe will be showing off the work done by this Spanish film festival and its commitment to the promotion of Arab cinema.

On Friday, September 30, before the first film screening, the series will be presented by Mane Cisneros, the African Film Festival director, with the participation of the Women for Africa Foundation, a sponsor of the award for Best Performance by an Actress at FCAT 2016. 
African Film Festival–FCAT award winners
  • As I Open My Eyes (À peine j’ouvre les yeux)

    As I Open My Eyes (À peine j’ouvre les yeux)

    September 30, 20167:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    We officially open the film series with this fictional movie by Leyla Bouzid. 
    In Tunisia during the summer of 2010, the Revolution is about to begin in just a few months. Farah, 18 years old, recently graduated from high school, and her family can already picture her with a medical degree. She does not share that dream, though. She sings in a socially committed rock group, drinks alcohol, discovers love and lives her city’s nightlife, all against the wishes of her mother, Hayet, who is very familiar with Tunis and its dangers.

    Cast: Baya Medhaffer, Ghalia Benali, Montassar Ayari, Aymen Omrani, Lassaad Jamoussi, Deena Abdelwahed, Youssef Soltana, Marwen Soltana.

    Awards and Festivals: Best Performance by an Actress (African Film Festival - FCAT, 2016), Best European Film (Authors’ Day Section/Venice Days, Venice Film Festival, 2015), Audience Award (BNL Section/Days of Venice, Venice Film Festival, 2015), Grand Prize for Best Film (International Film Festival of Dubai, 2015), Best Feature Film (French-language Film Festival of Namur, 2015), Jury Prize, Best Performance by an Actress and Audience Award (St. Jean-de-Luz Festival, 2015), the Bronze “Tania,” TV5 Monde Jury Award (at the Carthage Film Festival, Tunisia, 2015), Special Mention for Ghalia Benali, Audience Award and Critics’ Award (Mediterranean Film Festival of Brussels, 2015).

    (Tunisia, France, Belgium, United Arab Emirates, 2015, 103 min.) Fiction
  • The Bread Road (La route du pain)

    The Bread Road (La route du pain)

    October 07, 20167:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Casa Árabe is screening this documentary by Hicham El Laddaqi, which takes place in a poor neighborhood of Marrakech.
    This film portrays the daily routine of the inhabitants in a poor neighborhood of Marrakesh, as they take part in the timeless ballet of those abandoned by the system. Every day, dozens of men and women stand in front of the walls around the old medina, hoping to find work. They make up the great masses of the anonymous, the workers essential to Marrakesh’s economic development, based on a growing tourism industry.

    Awards and Festivals: “Concord Award” for Best Documentary (African Film Festival - FCAT, 2016), African Documentary Festival of Lille (France, 2016), Lorraine Film Festival (France, 2016), Poitiers Festival (France, 2016), African Film Festival of Luxor (Egypt, 2016), Carthage Film Festival (Tunisia, 2015), Maghreb Film Festival (Paris, 2015), “Traces de Vie” Festival, Clermont-Ferrand (France, 2015), Saint Louis Documentary Film Festival (Senegal, 2015).
  • Madame Courage

    Madame Courage

    October 14, 20167:30 p.m
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish
    Screening of a film that has received a many awards at international film festivals. 
    Omar, a moody, lonely teenager, lives in a shantytown on the outskirts of Mostaganem, Algeria. He is addicted to a well-known psychotropic drug called “Madame Courage” (“Mrs. Courage”) in the form of Artane pills, very popular amongst Algerian youths because it produces euphoria and a sense of invincibility. Omar specializes in stealing things by quickly pulling them off his victims and sprinting away. Like every other morning, Omar heads downtown to steal. His first victim is the young Selma, who is taking a walk with her friends, wearing a gold necklace. Omar grabs the necklace and rips it away, but, as he does, they cross glances for a moment.

    Cast: Adlane Djemil, Lamia Bezouaoui, Leïla Tilmatine, Abdellatif Benahmed, Mohamed Takerret.

    Awards and Festivals: Best Actor (African Film Festival of Tarifa - FCAT, 2016), International Grand Prize (“Vues d’Afrique,” Montreal, 2016), Best Director (Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran, 2016), Jury Award and Special Mention by the Jury for Best Actor (Mediterranean Film Festival of Annaba, Algeria, 2015), Best Actor (International Film Festival of Carthage, Algeria, 2015), Young Audience Award (Mediterranean Film Festival of Brussels, 2015), FEBIOFEST International Film Festival of Prague (2016), African Film Festival of Washington (2016), International Film Festival of Stockholm (2015), International Film Festival of Hamburg (2015), London Film Festival / BFI (2015), Venice Festival, Orizonti (2015).

    Directed by: Merzak Allouache
    (Algeria, 2015, 90 min.) Fiction 
  • Roundabout in My Head (Fi Rassi, Rond-Point)

    Roundabout in My Head (Fi Rassi, Rond-Point)

    October 21, 20167:30 pm
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 pm €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Screening of a documentary about the contrasts in Algerian society
    Inside Algiers’ best slaughterhouse, men live and work at the punishing pace of their jobs and dreams. Hope, bitterness, love, paradise, hell and soccer are tales told like melodies in Chaabi and Raï music styles, setting the beat to their lives and the world around them. The youngest speak only of finding love, while the eldest, who have already achieved wisdom, converse with the birds. Through a series of characters as great as this fictional work ranging from drama to comedy, from the grotesque to the surrealist, we are shown a portrait of contemporary Algerian society, with its hopes and contradictions. It is an Algeria spinning in circles.

    Awards and Festivals: Special Mention by the Jury (African Film Festival - FCAT, 2016), Grand Prize (“Filmer le Travail” Festival, Poitiers, France, 2016), Grand Prize (International Film Festival of Fribourg, Switzerland, 2016), Special Mention by the Jury (International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam, 2015), Big Screen Documentary Award (International Film Festival of Amiens, France, 2015), Best Documentary Film (Turin Film Festival, 2015), “Entrevues” Festival, Belfort (France, 2015), International Documentary Festival / FID of Marseille (France, 2015).

    Directed by: Hassen Ferhani
    (Algeria, Lebanon, France, Qatar, 2015, 100 min.) Documentary 
  • As I Open My Eyes (À peine j’ouvre les yeux)

    As I Open My Eyes (À peine j’ouvre les yeux)

    October 28, 20167:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Second screening of this film by Leyla Bouzid
    In Tunisia during the summer of 2010, the Revolution is about to begin in just a few months. Farah, 18 years old, recently graduated from high school, and her family can already picture her with a medical degree. She does not share that dream, though. She sings in a socially committed rock group, drinks alcohol, discovers love and lives her city’s nightlife, all against the wishes of her mother, Hayet, who is very familiar with Tunis and its dangers.

    Cast: Baya Medhaffer, Ghalia Benali, Montassar Ayari, Aymen Omrani, Lassaad Jamoussi, Deena Abdelwahed, Youssef Soltana, Marwen Soltana.

    Awards and Festivals: Best Performance by an Actress (African Film Festival - FCAT, 2016), Best European Film (Authors Day Section/Venice Days, Venice Film Festival, 2015), Audience Award (BNL Section/Days of Venice, Venice Film Festival, 2015), Grand Prize for Best Film (International Film Festival of Dubai, 2015), Best Feature Film (French-language Film Festival of Namur, 2015), Jury Prize, Best Performance by an Actress and Audience Award (St. Jean-de-Luz Festival, 2015), the Bronze “Tania,” TV5 Monde Jury Award (at the Carthage Film Festival, Tunisia, 2015), Special Mention for Ghalia Benali, Audience Award and Critics’ Award (Mediterranean Film Festival of Brussels, 2015).
  • The Bread Road (La route du pain)

    The Bread Road (La route du pain)

    November 11, 20167:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish
    Through this documentary by Hicham Elladdaqi, we will get a view of the less touristic side of Marrakesh.
    This film portrays the daily routine of the inhabitants in a poor neighborhood of Marrakesh, as they take part in the timeless ballet of those abandoned by the system. Every day, dozens of men and women stand in front of the walls around the old medina, hoping to find work. They make up the great masses of the anonymous, the workers essential to Marrakesh’s economic development, based on a growing tourism industry.

    Awards and Festivals: “Concord Award” for Best Documentary (African Film Festival - FCAT, 2016), African Documentary Festival of Lille (France, 2016), Lorraine Film Festival (France, 2016), Poitiers Festival (France, 2016), African Film Festival of Luxor (Egypt, 2016), Carthage Film Festival (Tunisia, 2015), Maghreb Film Festival (Paris, 2015), “Traces de Vie” Festival, Clermont-Ferrand (France, 2015), Saint Louis Documentary Film Festival (Senegal, 2015).
  • <div></div>Madame Courage

    Madame Courage

    November 18, 20167:30 p.m.
    MADRID
    Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62). 7:30 p.m. €4 when purchased online, €5 general entrance ticket at the box office
    Films shown in the original language version with subtitles in Spanish.
    Second and final screening during the film series of the Algerian film by Merzak Allouache, an international award-winner.
    Omar, a moody, lonely teenager, lives in a shantytown on the outskirts of Mostaganem, Algeria. He is addicted to a well-known psychotropic drug called “Madame Courage” (“Mrs. Courage”) in the form of Artane pills, very popular amongst Algerian youths because it produces euphoria and a sense of invincibility. Omar specializes in stealing things by quickly pulling them off his victims and sprinting away. Like every other morning, Omar heads downtown to steal. His first victim is the young Selma, who is taking a walk with her friends, wearing a gold necklace. Omar grabs the necklace and rips it away, but, as he does, they cross glances for a moment.

    Cast: Adlane Djemil, Lamia Bezouaoui, Leïla Tilmatine, Abdellatif Benahmed, Mohamed Takerret.

    Awards and Festivals: Best Actor (African Film Festival of Tarifa - FCAT, 2016), International Grand Prize (“Vues d’Afrique,” Montreal, 2016), Best Director (Fajr International Film Festival, Tehran, 2016), Jury Award and Special Mention by the Jury for Best Actor (Mediterranean Film Festival of Annaba, Algeria, 2015), Best Actor (International Film Festival of Carthage, Algeria, 2015), Young Audience Award (Mediterranean Film Festival of Brussels, 2015), FEBIOFEST International Film Festival of Prague (2016), African Film Festival of Washington (2016), International Film Festival of Stockholm (2015), International Film Festival of Hamburg (2015), London Film Festival / BFI (2015), Venice Festival, Orizonti (2015).