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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] in 2018) The Blue Caftan [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Carla Simón
entrevista: Carla Simón
entrevista: Giovanni Pompili
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Alain Ughetto
ficha de la película] (France/Italy/Belgium/Portugal/Switzerland). Belgian audiences will also get to discover Andrija Mardesic and David Kapac’s first feature film The Uncle [+lee también:
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entrevista: Andrija Mardešić y David K…
ficha de la película], which premiered in Karlovy Vary, Palestinian director Maha Haj’s second feature Mediterranean Fever [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], presented in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section, and Selcen Ergun’s Turkish movie Snow and the Bear [+lee también:
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entrevista: Selcen Ergun
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Erige Sehiri
ficha de la película], 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Algerian director Mounia Meddour (Papicha [+lee también:
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entrevista: Mounia Meddour
ficha de la película]), which stars Lyna Khoudri playing a character who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer. Portraits of women also also central to Amanda [+lee también:
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entrevista: Benedetta Porcaroli
ficha de la película] by Italy’s Carolina Cavalli, a first feature film launched in Toronto, and Ramona [+lee también:
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entrevista: Andrea Bagney
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película], 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Pierre Salvadori
ficha de la película] by Pierre Salvadori, Our Ties [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] by Roschdy Zem and Harkis [+lee también:
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entrevista: Philippe Faucon
ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Emanuele Crialese
ficha de la película], which was presented in Venice in September and features Spanish star Penelope Cruz.