Maghreb audience gets inside look at Cannes Film Festival

28/05/2009

Tunisia's Nessma TV covered the Cannes Film Festival this year for the first time, providing Maghreb television viewers with a "local" experience of the legendary cinema event.

By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis – 28/05/09

[Jamel Arfaoui] Nessma-TV presenter Amel Smaoui and director Rachid Bouchereb at the Cannes Film Festival.

Maghreb movie fans enjoyed watching the red carpet walk at the 62nd Cannes Festival on a local network, when Tunisia-based Nessma TV aired a live broadcast of the famed French event.

After all these years, when the festival was exclusive to the big international networks, Nessma TV managed to obtain broadcasting rights. From May 15th through the 24th, Nessma aired interviews, parties, awards and other entertainment. The special coverage was called "Wech! … We Cannes."

"The thing I liked the most is that we experienced this edition of the festival in a purely Maghreb atmosphere," said Wided ben Hmida. "The dialect was Maghreb, presenters were Maghreb, and most of the interviewees were also Maghreb. Some interviewees from Europe even sent us messages of love in the Maghreb dialect."

To bring authenticity to the show, Nessma assigned only Maghreb media experts and experienced presenters with regional dialects to covering the festival.

The live broadcast was presented by Tunisia's Amel Smaoui, who has rich experience in the world of broadcasting and cinema. She previously worked as the chief editor of Star Academy Maghreb and as a member of the jury for the Cannes Festival Education Award last year.

Said Taghmaoui was another presenter familiar with the world of cinema. He played the role of an Iraqi soldier in the movie "Three Kings" with star George Clooney. He is also known for taking part in the 2005 media campaign to reduce traffic accidents in Morocco.

To make it more fun for the viewers and interviewees, Nessma set up a live studio on board a yacht belonging to Tunisian film producer Tarek ben Ammar.

Among the stars who addressed Maghreb viewers: Algerian star Rachida Barakani and Algerian-born French director Rachid Bouchereb, whose film Indigènes was extremely successful in the Maghreb region.

The local viewers also got to know Tunisian star Afef Jnifene and Lebanese Nadine Labaki, as well as some Hollywood stars who were thrilled to go on the luxury yacht land speak directly to the Maghreb audience.

"I never expected that a Maghreb TV channel would be able to speak to top Hollywood stars such as Penélope Cruz and Brad Pitt," said Walid Talbi. "It's really a surprise and I hope it will continue in the next rounds."

"I don't know why we waited so long to give the opportunity of discovering the Cannes Festival with Maghreb eyes," said Samir Ayachi. "We have all the human and material capabilities and we could have involved the region's TV stations in financing the coverage."

Wahid Abdallah, an art critic for Al Sabah daily newspaper, gave the credit for making it all happen to Tarek ben Ammar, one of Nessma's main contributors. Ben Ammar's connections made it easier, he said.

"Impossible things become ordinary things with Tarek ben Ammar," he said. "This is because of his strong and extensive relations with international actors and directors in Europe and the US."

The Maghreb presence was clear this time in Cannes, right from the start. Tunisian-born actress Hafsia Harzi opened the festival with French singing legend Charles Aznavour.

Tunisian director Ferid Boughdir represented the Maghreb on the short film jury.

This year, the Palme d'Or was awarded to Austrian director Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, while the jury award went to France's Jacques Audiard's Un Prophete. Christov Walts won the best actor award for his role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, and Charlotte Gainsbourg won the best actress award for her role in Antichrist. The best director award went to Brillante Mendoza for his movie Kinatay (Philippines).