Afef Ben Mahmoud Takes the Helm as Director of Tunisia’s Gabès Cinema Festival

Tunisian Actress Afef Ben Mahmoud Appointed Director of Gabès Cinema Festival

Tunisian actress and filmmaker Afef Ben Mahmoud has been appointed as the director of the eighth edition of Gabès Cinema Festival (Gabès Cinéma Fen), an event that celebrates film, video art, and immersive works. This festival aims to highlight the cultural contributions of cinema while addressing ecological challenges faced by the Mediterranean city of Gabès.

Launched in 2019, the festival is particularly focused on the issues surrounding an aging chemical factory that produces phosphate fertilizers, prompting discussions about the future of the city and its residents.

Ben Mahmoud is recognized internationally for her performances in films such as Nouri Bouzid’s The Scarecrows, which follows two young women impacted by ISIS in Syria, and Mehdi Hmili’s Streams, depicting a woman’s struggles to rebuild her life following imprisonment for adultery. Most recently, she appeared in the boxing drama Round 13 directed by Mohamed Ali Nahdi.

Making her directorial debut in 2023, she co-directed the ensemble drama Backstage with Khalil Benkirane, focusing on a theater troupe that becomes lost in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. This film was showcased at the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori.

"The selection of Ben Mahmoud comes at a pivotal moment for Gabès Cinéma Fen," the festival stated. "It underscores our commitment to aesthetic exploration and positions us as an independent festival that embraces diverse forms of cinema and artistic creation.”

Since its inception, the festival has aimed to serve as a vibrant meeting point for visual arts, facilitating collective reflection and offering a arena for innovative artistic expression in collaboration with the local community.

Ben Mahmoud expressed her anticipation for the festival, noting, “My work has always navigated between different forms of expression—performing arts, acting, directing, producing—and the festival embodies this cross-disciplinary approach.”

Reflecting on the festival’s mission, she stated, “It is not simply about programming films, but about turning creation into an act of dialogue with social, ecological, and political contexts.”

Emphasizing the festival’s role in community engagement, she added, “In Gabès, a region facing significant social and environmental challenges, the festival becomes a space for collective reflection and shared imagination.”

The Gabès Cinema Festival is scheduled to take place from April 26 to May 2.