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

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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 r ...

. It is the only film festival 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 Javier may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Javier, in video game '' Advance Wars: Dual Strike'' * Javier Rios, a character in the Monsters, Inc. franchise. * ''Javier'' (album), a 2003 album by the American singer Javier Colon, known a ...

. 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,Roape Article
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, the former colonial power in Western Sahara. The festival has attracted support from Spanish film celebrities, including Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, 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 narr ...

. Musicians like

Fermín Muguruza Fermin Muguruza (born 20 April 1963) is a Basque rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, record label manager, and co-founder of the ska punk band Kortatu, active from 1983 to 1988, and of the crossover group Negu Gorriak, active from 1990 t ...

, Manu Chao, Macaco, Iván Ferreiro, El Chojin and Tomasito 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

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, 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