The 12th edition of the world’s remotest film festival – held in a refugee camp deep in the Sahara desert with a star-studded red carpet ceremony at which the acclaimed documentary, Granito: How to Nail a Dictator, scooped the top prize: a white camel.
The award for the film, which documents the search for justice following the Guatemalan genocide, was accepted by US director Pamela Yates and presented by Game of Thrones star and granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, Oona Chaplin.
It was just one of over 30 films screened at the Western Sahara International Film Festival (known as FiSahara) which ran from 28 April and was attended by over 300 people from the worlds of film, culture and human rights alongside thousands of Sahawari refugees exiled from Western Sahara for almost 40 years.
In addition to features, animations, documentaries and short films, the festival also screened films made by the Saharawi refugees attending the film school opened in 2011 with the support of FiSahara. A collection of eight short films made by the refugees picked up third prize and were selected for a prestigious new Raindance prize which will see them screened at the Raindance Film Festival in London in October 2015.
The second prize for the Venezuelan film Musawat (Equality) was collected by the film’s director Darwin Diko Canas and the Special Prize for the Oscar-nominated Timbuktu was accepted by Mauritanian actor, Salem Dendou.
The Human Rights Award was presented to Nora de Cortiñas, 85, Argentinian founder of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo movement, who also met Saharawi mothers of the disappeared whilst she was in the refugee camp. She said:
“I made this journey to the desert because I feel great solidarity with the Saharawi people and their call for decolonisation and respect of human rights in Western Sahara. I have been deeply impressed with FiSahara which is far more powerful and more spiritual than other film festivals.”
Oona Chaplin, who presented the awards said:
“I have heard that my father’s films were some of the first to play here. He would be so proud the films he made about the struggle for dignity, about love, about injustice and about the fight against oppression were shown at FiSahara. Together we will make the world an audience for the Saharawi story, the Saharawi struggle. This festival is a beautiful expression of our common struggle for freedom.”
French actress Lizzie Brochere (American Horror Story) said:
“Through film, FiSahara not only offers rare entertainment and educational opportunities to an abandoned population but also helps to shine a light on their plight. Many people do not know that these refugees are here, or about their 40 year struggle for justice in Western Sahara and France’s shameful role in obstructing progress.”
FiSahara executive director, Maria Carrion said:
“Twelve years ago we planted a seed in this desert and it continues to grow. Today, the Saharawi have adopted cinema as an essential tool with which to defend their culture and fight for their freedom.”
www.festivalsahara.com
