Al Ard Film Festival
Al Ard Film Festival is an international film festival aimed at popularising Palestinian and Arab culture and art. The festival takes place in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, once a year and has been organised since 2002 by the Associazione Amicizia Sardegna Palestina, a local volunteering organisation founded in 1997.
One of the frequent guests of Al Ard Film Festival in Sardinia is Monica Maurer, who from the 1970s has directed films about the Palestinian fight.
History
The first edition of Al Ard was held in Cagliari, and, since then, it has grown in popularity and international reach, attracting a diverse and engaged audience. The festival has become a beloved and eagerly anticipated annual event for the local community, and its success has helped to put Cagliari on the map as a destination for film enthusiasts even from outside the island.Mission
Since its first edition, the mission of the event has been to promote fundamental rights, such as the right of self-determination, with a particular focus on Palestine. Started as a small local event, over the years, Al Ard has become an international film festival, and it is now among the most popular events about the Arab world in Southern Europe.Editions
The festival has been held annually since 2002 and has grown to become a major cultural event in the region. The 19th edition of Al Ard Film Festival took place in February 2023 at the Teatro Massimo in Cagliari. The festival attracts international guests, some of whom have been part of the Jury multiple times, such as Monica Maurer, Ibrahim Nasrallah, May Odeh, and many other were invited as filmmakers candidates for awards, such as Mai Masri, Sahera Dirbas, Mohammed Alatar, Kasim Abid, Elia Ghorbia, Linda Paganelli, Habib Ayeb, and many more.Initially, until 2009, the festival was limited to showcasing Arab films, with a particular focus on Palestine, without awarding any prizes. Since 2011, with the introduction of a jury, the festival concludes with an award ceremony, during which various accolades are presented. The jury is made up of film experts and Middle East specialists, who evaluate the competing films based on criteria that include cinematic quality and thematic depth related to the Middle East.
| Edition | Year | Date | Awards |
| 1 | 2002 | ? | |
| 2 | 2003 | ? | |
| 3 | 2004 | ? | |
| 4 | 2005 | 24 - 26 November | |
| 5 | 2006 | 1 - 3 December | |
| 6 | 2008 | 7 - 9 February | |
| 7 | 2009 | 5 - 7 February | |
| 8 | 2010 | not held | |
| 9 | 2011 | 15 - 19 February | Audience Award This is my Land… Hebron by Giulia Amati, Stephen Natarson | Italy, 2010Best Emerging Director Emiliano Sacchetti for A New Day Has Come | Italy, 2010 Giulia Amati & Stephen Natarson for This is my Land… Hebron | Italy, 2010Best Film About Palestine Gaza… Strophe by Samir Abdallah, Kheridine Mabrouk | France/Palestine, 2010Best Documentary of the Festival Gaza Hospital by Marco Pasquini | Italy, 2009 |
| 10 | 2012 | 6 - 10 March | Audience Award Tomorrow’s Land by A. Paco Mariani, N. Zambelli | Italy, 2011Best Emerging Director Bilal Yousef for Back to One's Root | Palestine/Qatar, 2009Best Film About Palestine Gaza, Guerra all’Informazione by Anna Maia Selini | Italy, 2009 and Tomorrow’s Land by A. Paco Mariani, N. Zambelli | Italy, 2011Best Documentary of the Festival Tears of Gaza by Vibeke Lokkeberg | Norway, 2011 |
| 11 | 2013 | November | Best Emerging Director Axel Salvatori-Sinz for The Shebabs of Yarmouk | France, 2012Best Film About Palestine The Kingdom of Women: Ein el Hilweh by Dahna Abourahme | Lebanon, 2010Best Documentary of the Festival Infiltrators by Khaled Jarrar | Palestine, 2012Special Mentions of the Jury In my Mother’s Arms by Atia & Mohamed Al-Daradji, Iraq, 2011 Palestina per Principianti by Francesco Merini | Italy, 2012 |
| 12 | 2015 | 18 - 21 March | Audience Award: Striplife. Gaza in a day by Nicola Grignani, Alberto Mussolini, Luca Scaffidi, Valeria Testagrossa, Andrea ZambelliBest Emerging Director: Sara Dhedel, Hamza Khalifa, Oday Al Taneeb, Rawan Tamimi, Jaber Abu Rahmeh, Mahmoud Hathaleen, Ahmad Amro for Unknown SoldiersBest Film About Palestine: Striplife. Gaza in a day by Nicola Grignani, Alberto Mussolini, Luca Scaffidi, Valeria Testagrossa, Andrea ZambelliBest Documentary of the Festival: We Cannot Go There Now, My Dear by Carol Mansour |
| 13 | 2016 | 9 - 12 March | Audience Award: Dreams Behind the Wall by Elena Herreros | Palestine, 2015Best Emerging Director Ahmad al-Bazz e Yasser Jodallah for To My MotherBest Film About Palestine The Living of the Pigeons by Baha’ Abu Shanab | Palestine, 2014Best Documentary of the Festival Nun wa Zaytun by Emtiaz Diab | Palestine, 2015Special Mentions of the Jury: 30th of March by Nidal Badarny | Palestine, 2014 Roshmia by Salim Abu Jabal | Palestine 2014 |
| 14 | 2017 | 7 - 11 March | Audience Award Detained Dreams by Nisreen SilmiBest Emerging Director Elia Ghorbiah for The Bitter InkBest Film About Palestine The Wanted 18 by Amer Shomali Death Tunnel by Mohamed HarbBest Documentary of the Festival Coffee For All Nations by Wafa’ Espvall Emwas..Restoring Memories by Dima Abu GhoushSpecial Mentions of the Jury: Encounter with a Lost Land by Maryse Garghour |
| 15 | 2018 | 17 - 24 March | Audience Award The Truth: Lost at Sea by Rifat Audeh Al Ard Award Dream Fragments by Bahïa Bencheikh El-Fegoun Palestine Award Broken Dreams by Mohamed Harb Emerging Director Award Home by Berber Verpoest Special Mentions of the Jury Bloody Basil by Elia Gorbiah Sardegna Palestina Award Ghost Hunting by Raed Andoni |
| 16 | 2019 | 11 - 16 March | Audience Award Broken. A Palestinian Journey through International Law by Mohammed AlatarAl Ard Award You Come from Far Away by Amal RamsisPalestine Award Five Minutes by Ahmed Nasser BarghoutiEmerging Director Award Razan by Hanan Alastal and Iyad AlastalSpecial Mentions of the Jury Farming Under Fire by Matthew Cassel Broken. A Palestinian Journey through International Law by Mohammed Alatar Sardegna Palestina Award Mirrors of Diaspora by Kasim AbidEcho of the Camp Award Without Waves by Wisam Al Jafari |
| 17 | 2020 | 17 - 22 August | Audience Award Between Two Crossings by Yasser MurtajaAl Ard Award Between Two Crossings by Yasser MurtajaPalestine Award On The Doorstep by Sahera DirbasEmerging Director Award Imprisoning a Generation by Zelda EdmundsSardegna Palestina Award The Walls of Dheisheh by Clemence Lehec and Tamara Abu LabanEcho of the Camp Award Ambience by Wisam Al JafariHandala Award Memory of the Land by Samira BadranSpecial Mentions of the Jury: Aisle by Hisham Kayed Hummus by Abdel Lafi Seed Queen by Mariam Shahin |
| 18 | 2022 | 9 - 13 March | Audience Award Sarura. The Future is an Unknown Place by Nicola ZambelliAl Ard Award Beirut: Eye of the Storm by Mai MasriPalestine Award Letter to a Friend by Emily JacirEmerging Director Award Liwan: a Story of Cultural Resistance by Doris HakimSardegna Palestina Award Walled Citizen by Sameer QumsiyehHandala Award What Remains by Christian HarbSpecial Mentions of the Jury: A Talk with Remarkable People by Maryse Garghour Bank of Targets by Roshdi Sarraj The Wall by Mira Sidawi |
| 19 | 2023 | 21-25 February | Audience Award Sulla loro pelle by Marika Ikonomu, Alessandro Leone and Simone MandaBest documentary Feature Film Not Just Your Picture – the Story of the Kilani family directed by Anne Paq and Dror DayanPalestine Award Erasmus in Gaza by Chiara Avesani and Matteo DelbòEmerging Director Award Last May in Palestine by Rabeea EidBest Documentary Short Feature 4000 voices by Sajjad KwaishSardegna Palestina Award Sulla loro pelle by Marika Ikonomu, Alessandro Leone and Simone MandaBest Film Fiction Yalla by Carlo D'UrsiSpecial Mentions of the Jury: Eulogy for the Dead Sea by Polina Teif Waiting for Farajallah by Nidal Badarny |
| 20 | 2024 | 20-24 February | Audience Award Reel Rock: Resistance Climbing by Nick Rosen and Zachary BarrBest Long Feature Documentary In the Shadow of Beirut directed by Stephen Gerard Kelly and Garry KeaneBest Short Feature Documentary Heavy Metal directed by Edward Knowles and Timo BruunBest Fiction Uncle Give Me a Cigarette directed by Al MasnaSpecial Mentions of the Jury: |
| 21 | 2025 | 25 Feb - 1 Mar | Best Long Feature Documentary
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