FiSahara is billed as an initiative to bring film as an entertainment and cultural form to the thousands of Sahrawis who live in theAlgerian desert. It also aims to provide cultural entertainment and educational opportunities to the refugees.
TheWhite Camel (Arabic:الجمل الأبيض) is the festival's top prize, awarded for the best film by election of the spectators.[11] It consists of a white femalecamel, which is traditionally donated to the refugee family who hosted the actors or director of the winning film during the festival. The winners receive a trophy depicting a white camel and adesert rose.
In some years, the festival has chosen a country to be a guest in the event. In such cases, films from the guest country are screened, and related events take place along with the other acts in the festival.
"Objective FiSahara English"(PDF).donostia.org. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2013-10-12. Retrieved22 December 2023.The International Sahara Film Festival (FISahara), which began in 2002, is a personal initiative inspired by the President of the State Coordinator of Associated Friends of the Sahara (CEAS), who, without a doubt, discovered how to generate a current of enthusiasm and cohesion among the various active parties within Spanish cinema. 24-page book about the FiSahara festival, with texts byJavier Bardem,Javier Corcuera,Eduardo Galeano, Juan Carlos Izagirre,Paul Laverty, and others.
Simanowitz, Stefan; Santaolalla, Isabel."A Cinematic Refuge in the Desert: The FiSahara Film Festival (from St Andrew's University's Film Festival Yearbook 2011)".scribd.com. Scribd.Inc (digital document library), San Francisco, USA. Retrieved22 December 2023.During the 1960s, when decolonisation movements were sweeping the world, there was a joke that, after achieving independence, a country had to do three things: design a flag, launch an airline and found a film festival (Rich 1999: 79). Western Sahara has a flag but no airline and, despite a struggle that has lasted over three decades, it has yet to achieve independence. The closest Western Sahara comes to its own film festival is Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara (FISahara) (www.festivalsahara.com), a festival like no other that takes place in a refugee camp in the middle of the desert.
Cuba[16][17]
Algeria[18][19]
South Africa[20][21]
Venezuela[22][23]
Mexico[24][25]
United States[26]
Spain[1]
