Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

The activities of the Southern Film Festival were launched in the Belgian capital, in the presence of a large audience, with the participation of a number of Arab and European artists, along with prominent diplomatic, political and media figures. The Promise" and "The Biography of Love", and then a short film was shown that included parts of the works of the Moroccan artist Latifa Ahrar, who was honored for all her artistic works.
 
While the Moroccan film "High and Strong" by director Nabil Ayouch will be shown at the end of the festival next Friday, preceded by other co-production films from Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Senegal, Belgium, France, Germany, the United States, Greece, the Netherlands and others, in addition to showing a group of short and fiction films, and there are concerts, exhibitions, seminars and music And singing and in the presence of a number of artists and filmmakers from different countries

All of these activities are under one title, which is "Women," according to what Rashida Shaibani, director of the festival, said in statements to "Europe and the Arabs."

She added that this year's edition of the festival will be dedicated to women, as the festival this year celebrates women's cinema to highlight and empower them in the film industry, which is still dominated by the male component. Rich creations besides their peculiarities and their own beauty. Among the activities, there will be a round table symposium on “The place occupied by women in cinema or women’s cinema.”

Most of the films shown will be women, many of them directed by women. The festival will also feature an art exhibition by the two artists, Piroska Vesni and Amina Bogdain, and the short film jury will be responsible for awarding the selected films the best screenplay award and the best director award. The Audience Award will be voted on in the Feature Films category

The festival succeeded in its past ten sessions in achieving the optimal goal, which is to link the members of the Arab communities residing in Europe with the nation of nations through artistic and cultural activities, while at the same time shedding light on the issues that the southern Mediterranean countries suffer from. Each party has the other, and the festival has become followed by Europeans and Arabs and has a place on the map of art festivals.