24/11/2022 - The festival’s 22nd edition is set to unspool 2 – 10 December, with no less than 60 movies jostling on the agenda

Mediterranean film will once again take centre stage in Brussels this December, by way of the 22nd edition of the Mediterranean Film Festival - Cinemamed, which will allow audiences to travel to the four corners of the Mediterranean basin from the comfort of a selection of movie theatres. The event will be opened by Maryam Touzani’s second film (who turned heads with Adam [+see also:
film review
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film profile] in 2018) The Blue Caftan [+see also:
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film profile], which was discovered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section last year and stars the brilliant Belgian actress Lubna Azabal.

The Competition will consist of 7 feature films, including the most recent Berlinale’s Golden Bear winner Alcarràs [+see also:
film review
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interview: Carla Simón
interview: Carla Simón
interview: Giovanni Pompili
film profile] by Spanish director Carla Simón. A selection of Belgian co-productions are also set to grace the line-up, in the form of Orit Fouks Rotem’s Belgian-Israeli co-production Cinema Sabaya, The Damned Don’t Cry [+see also:
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film profile] by Fyzal Boulifa (France/Belgium/Morocco), which was presented in Venice’s Giornate degli Autori, and Alain Ughetto’s animated documentary unveiled in Annecy No Dogs or Italians Allowed [+see also:
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interview: Alain Ughetto
film profile] (France/Italy/Belgium/Portugal/Switzerland). Belgian audiences will also get to discover Andrija Mardesic and David Kapac’s first feature film The Uncle [+see also:
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interview: Andrija Mardešić and David …
film profile], which premiered in Karlovy Vary, Palestinian director Maha Haj’s second feature Mediterranean Fever [+see also:
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film profile], presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, and Selcen Ergun’s Turkish movie Snow and the Bear [+see also:
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interview: Selcen Ergun
film profile] which just opened the Marrakech International Film Festival.

The festival is continuing its search for new talent via the ReVolution section, which was introduced last year and focuses on self-emancipatory battle cries by modern-day youngsters blending fiction and documentary forms. Audiences will also get the opportunity to discover Tunisian director Erige Sehiri’s summery first fiction feature shot through with societal questions, Under the Fig Trees [+see also:
film review
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interview: Erige Sehiri
film profile], which was unveiled in the Directors’ Fortnight and recently won the Namur Festival’s Bayard d’Or, not to mention Rita Baghdadi’s Lebanese documentary Sirens, painting the portrait of the Arab world’s first female heavy metal band. A whole other genre of music is at the heart of Houria [+see also:
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film profile] by Algerian director Mounia Meddour (Papicha [+see also:
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interview: Mounia Meddour
film profile]), which stars Lyna Khoudri playing a character who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. Portraits of women also also central to Amanda [+see also:
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interview: Benedetta Porcaroli
film profile] by Italy’s Carolina Cavalli, a first feature film launched in Toronto, and Ramona [+see also:
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interview: Andrea Bagney
film profile] by Spanish director Andrea Bagney, which was discovered in Karlovy Vary. This section will likewise shine a light on Firas Khoury’s Palestinian film Alam [+see also:
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film profile], and Cléo Cohen’s French documentary May God Be With You.

In addition to these two competitive sections, the festival is also set to screen a panorama of 17 films as yet unseen in Belgium, including several hotly anticipated French movies, such as The Little Gang [+see also:
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interview: Pierre Salvadori
film profile] by Pierre Salvadori, Our Ties [+see also:
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film profile] by Roschdy Zem and Harkis [+see also:
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interview: Philippe Faucon
film profile] by Philippe Faucon, as well as the Medoc selection dedicated to documentary films.

Last but not least, the festival is scheduled close in style with a screening of Italian director Emanuele Crialese’s new film L’Immensità [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Emanuele Crialese
film profile], which was presented in Venice in September and features Spanish star Penelope Cruz.

(Translated from French)