The Sahara International Film Festival, also known as FiSahara, is an annual event which takes place in the

Sahrawi refugee camps The Sahrawi refugee camps (also romanized with Saharawi) in Tindouf, Algeria, are a collection of refugee camps set up in the Tindouf Province, Algeria in 1975–76 for Sahrawi refugees fleeing from Moroccan forces, who advanced through Wester ...

, at the southwest corner of

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, near the border with

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...

. It is the only

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

in the world held in a

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

.Comienza 'Fisahara 2008', el único festival de cine en un campo de refugiados
El Mundo, 18 April 2008 The first festival was in large part organised by Peruvian film director Javier Corcuera. 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 The Polisario Front, Frente Polisario, Frelisario or simply Polisario, from the Spanish abbreviation of (Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro), (in ar, rtl=yes, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير الس� ...

,Roape Article
/ref> but largely organised and funded by donors from

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, the former colonial power in Western Sahara. The festival has attracted support from Spanish film celebrities, including

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (; ; born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British ...

Javier Bardem Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem (; born 1 March 1969) is a Spanish actor. Known for his roles in blockbusters and foreign films, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in ...

, and

Pedro Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; (often known simply as Almodóvar) born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish filmmaker. His films are marked by melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular culture, and complex narra ...

. Musicians like Fermín Muguruza,

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish singer. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his mu ...

, Macaco,

Iván Ferreiro Iván Ferreiro Rodríguez (born 15 August 1970) is a Spanish singer-songwriter born in Vigo, Galicia. He was the voice, leader and composer of the popular pop-rock band Los Piratas. Career After Los Piratas split, by late 2003, Iván kept p ...

El Chojin Domingo Edjang Moreno (born 28 April 1977), better known by his stage name El Chojin (pronounced as in Japanese , not with a Spanish ''J''), is a Spanish rapper and songwriter. He is the current Guinness World Record holder for most syllables ...

and

Tomasito Tomás Moreno Romero, better known as Tomasito, is a Spanish flamenco dancer, singer and rapper born in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, in 1969. His music style is a very personal mixture of flamenco, pop, rock, hip hop, funky, and other rhythms. He ...

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 The Algerian Desert ( ar, الصحراء الجزائرية) is located in north-central Africa and is part of the Sahara Desert. The desert occupies more than four-fifths of Algerian territory. Its expansion starts from the Saharan Atlas as a ...

. 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.

White Camel winners

The White Camel ( ar, الجمل الأبيض) is the festival's top prize, awarded for the best film by election of the spectators.Additional festival events
Festivalsahara.com It consists of a white female camel, which is traditionally donated to the refugee family who hosted the actors or director of the winning film during the festival. The winners receive a trophy depicting a white camel and a desert rose.

Guest country

In some years, the festival has chosen a country to be a guest in the event. In such cases, films from the guest country are screened, and related events take place along with the other acts in the festival.

External links

Objective FiSahara
Donostia.org – 24-page book about the FiSahara, with texts by Juan Carlos Izagirre,

Eduardo Galeano Eduardo Hughes Galeano (; 3 September 1940 – 13 April 2015) was a Uruguayan journalist, writer and novelist considered, among other things, "global soccer's pre-eminent man of letters" and "a literary giant of the Latin American left". Galean ...

Paul Laverty Paul Laverty (born 1957) is a screenwriter and lawyer best known for his screenplays for films directed by Ken Loach. Birth and early career Paul Laverty was born in Calcutta, West Bengal, to an Irish mother and Scottish father. He was educat ...

, Javier Corcuera, Javier Bardem and others.
Sáhara Occidental: La Revolución del Cine o el Cine de la Revolución
by David Bollero Real
Prospect Magazine – Blogs
Preview of 6th FISahara

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahara International Film Festival 2009 establishments in Algeria Annual events in Algeria Mass media in Western Sahara Sahrawi culture Film festivals in Algeria Events in the Arab world Spring (season) events in Algeria Film festivals established in 2009