Finally, the dedicated website for the 19th edition is online!
The address is https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/ and the website is in Italian as it will be a guide for the local audience that will be attending the festival from 21st to 25th February 2023 at the Teatro Massimo in Cagliari, Sardinia.
Since 2002, Al Ard, organised by volunteers from Associazione Amicizia Sardegna Palestina, has been shining a light on Palestine and the Arab world. The festival’s goal is to inform the public about the situation in occupied Palestine and the Arab world, in support of the Palestinian people’s struggle for self-determination. For 19 editions, the festival has invited international filmmakers as guests, offering the Sardinian audience a detailed insight into a part of the world that is actually very close to our island.
Free screenings from the afternoon to the evening: no tickets, no reservations needed. Al Ard Film Festival is open to everyone, and there is no need to book in advance. People can simply turn up at the Teatro Massimo in Cagliari and our volunteers will show them to the screening room.
What’s on the Italian dedicated website?
The Programme
From Tuesday 21st February until Saturday 25th, our audience will enjoy an Interactive experience with Q&A sessions with guest filmmakers. Moreover, they will vote for their favourite films and decide on the Audience Award. In fact, one of the seven awards that filmmakers can take home in this edition is decided by the audience in the screening room.
The whole programme can be found here: https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/programma/
The Films
The films of this edition include documentaries (long and short) and fiction films (short) for a total of 31 competing films. Several films that have won awards in our Festival in previous editions have often gone on to great success worldwide right after.
All the films with their synopsis can be found here: https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/i-film-in-gara/
The Jury and the Awards
In addition to the audience award, an expert jury of filmmakers, writers, poets, professors, producers and authors is responsible for giving out four other awards in the documentary categories. This year’s jury members are Monica Maurer, Wasim Dahmash, Ibrahim Nasrallah, Antonello Zanda, Franca Gabriella Piras, Patrizia Manduchi, Filippo Kalomenìdis, Andrea Mura, Almohannad Kalthoum, and May Odeh. Furthermore, the award for the best fiction film and the Sardinia-Palestine award, this year in memory of Ghassan Kanafani, will be decided and presented by the festival’s volunteer organisers.
The details about the jury can be found here: https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/la-giuria/
Here are all the details about the awards: https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/premi/
Out of Competition Screenings
Each edition Al Ard Film Festival features some screenings of films that are not in competition. This year, we have decided to introduce a new showcase called Sa Terra (Sardinian for the Arabic “Al Ard”, meaning The Land) as a platform for some local films, to showcase them not only to the local audience but also to our international guests.
To know more about Sa Terra there is a specific section: https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/sa-terra/
Music
At this year’s concert, we will have the honour of hosting Jowan Safadi, a Palestinian singer-songwriter and musician. Jowan, coming from the 1948 territories, has made a significant impact on the development of the Free Arabic Rock genre. He has explored various types of music, including alternative rock, post-punk, electronic music, and traditional Arabic music. His unique and transformative artistry has made him a key figure in the Arab music scene.
More details about Jowan can be found here: https://xix.alardfilmfestival.com/concerto/