NewsLab

Moufida Tlatli, the godmother of this festival, came to international attention in 1994 when her first film, The Silences of the Palace, won many prizes worldwide. Seven years later, her reputation as a strong female presence in the Arab cinema expanded with her second film- La Saison des Hommes (The Season of Men). In her movies, women have the leading part, as they anxiously race through the complexities of the Tunisian society committed to change while at the same time resisting, tripping over the paradoxes of past behaviours. “Women’s view is very different in relation with men. We face situations differently, we always analyse, trying to understand why things are the way they are».

For Nadine Labaki, who grew up in war-torn Lebanon, cinema was always a way to escape from her everyday life. In 2007, her first film “Caramel” has successfully put her on the map of the big screen. “Many women came to tell me that my film had awakened them, had touched them. This is the best compliment ever. If I manage to change just a small piece of somebody’s life, this is the greatest pleasure”.