Art_Africa_2016_03_

ARTAFRICA

FEATURE / CARTHAGE FILM FESTIVAL

CARTHAGE FILM FESTIVAL / IN CONVERSATION WITH PATRICIA CAILLE 6/20

IN CONVERSATION

WITH

PATRICIA CAILLE

Patricia Caille teaches in the Information-Communication department a the University of Strasbourg. As

an academic she has coordinated multiple research projects in relation to Maghreb cinema, co-organised

two conferences for Panorama de cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen Orient and recently took part in a

roundtable at Carthage Film Festival, organised by CREDIF. ART AFRICA spoke to Patricia about the

history of cinema in North Africa, the European lens, and the importance of festivals such as Carthage.

ART ARICA: Please tell us a bit about your involvement with Panorama de

cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen Orient and the Carthage Film Festival?

Patricia Caille: The Panorama des cinémas du Maghreb et du Moyen Orient is

an annual festival in Saint Denis, a suburb of Paris. There have been ten of them

so far and I have co-organised two conferences in relation to this festival; one on

Maghrebi women filmmakers and the other on the circulation of films in the MENA

region. The festival began as an attempt to make local audiences more familiar with

Moroccan cinema, which was growing rapidly at the time and has since expanded

into a Maghrebi and Middle Eastern film festival. It promotes a kind of independent

auteur cinema, that is at times experimental.

Carthage is very different because it is an international film festival that started in

1966. Right from the start, Tahar Cheriaa, a founding figure of film culture in Tunisia,
      wanted it to showcase Arab and African films. It used to be called the JCC (Journées
      Cinématographiques de Carthage). Today the change in name to the Carthage Film
      Festival suggests a transition and probably an attempt at placing Carthage on the
      crowded circuit of large international film festivals. Unlike most international film
      festivals, Carthage has a large local audience. The screenings are attended by crowds
      of young people from Tunis and beyond who throng into the city to watch Tunisian
      and international films. This year, people fought over tickets for the premieres of
      Tunisian films, which makes me think that Carthage is going to lose part of its soul
      if it does not cater to these large local audiences.