Day: May 21, 2023

Tunisia won three first prizes in the Critics Awards for Arab Films, held by the Arab Cinema Centre (ACC), in the margins of the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27, 2023).

Youssef Chebbi was voted best director for his feature film “Ashkal”, the Tunisian investigation that was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022 and won several awards, including the FESPACO 2023 Golden Stallion and the Golden Antigone, the Critics’ Prize and the Best Music prize at the Montpellier Mediterranean Film Festival in 2022.

The best actor award went to French-Tunisian Adam Bessa for his role in Lotfy Nathan’s drama film “Harka”.

The prize for best music was awarded to Amine Bouhafa for his musical signature in ‘Under the Fig Trees.’

This is a promising consecration for Bouhafa, who also signed the score for Kaouther Ben Hania’s feature film “Four Daughters,’ which is competing for the Palme d’Or this year. After four screenings on May 19 and 20, Ben Hania’s film has become the talk of the international press.

The Critics Awards are dedicated to new Arab productions and are presented each year on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival.

Launched for the first time in 2017 in the margins of the 70th Cannes Film Festival, the Critics Awards are awarded by an international jury of critics to the best Arab productions in the following categories: Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Writer, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Music.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The first signs of tourism recovery have been recorded during the new season, as bookings picked up 30% compared to 2019, said the president of the Tunisian Federation of Travel and Tourism Agencies, Ahmed Betaieb.

In a statement to TAP, Betaieb pointed out that the Tunisian destination has regained its attractiveness thanks to the efforts made by all parties concerned, expecting the number of overnight stays in hotel units in Tunisia to increase at rates between 20 and 30% compared to 2019 (reference year).

The President of the Federation said the number of tourists from traditional European markets (Germany, France and England) has returned to the 2019 level, while a new market, Armenia has emerged. The Russian market which, together with the Algerian market, had saved the tourist season in 2019, is absent because of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The positive indicators should not overshadow the challenges and problems faced by travel agencies and the tourism sector, he said.

These problems include the shortage of the bus fleet, the difficulty in obtaining licences to supply and renew the transport fleet, the lack of “qualified” manpower in several tourism specialities to further improve the quality of services, as well as the inability to involve the private sector in solving and discussing issues related to the tourism sector in Tunisia before taking decisions.

He called for exceptional measures to be taken in order to avoid any shortcomings that would hamper the work of Tunisian travel agencies and prevent them from meeting the high demand, especially during the high tourist season.

Tunisia had attracted about 9 million and 30 thousand tourists until December 20, 2019 (the reference year before the COVID-19), at a time when the sector’s revenues had risen to more than 5,350 million dinars, according to data provided by the then Minister of Tourism, Rene Trabelsi.

As of November 30, 2019, the number of overnight stays in hotel units increased by 11.3% compared to the same period in 2018, reaching 28.8 million overnight stays.

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

A week-long series of activities were organised by the Seychelles National Museums for all ages to celebrate the 2023 International Museum Day under the theme “Museums, Sustainability and Well-being.”

The International Museum Day was established by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) in 1977. Celebrated on May 18, International Museum Day is aimed at increasing public awareness of the role of museums in the development of society.

Every year, museums are invited organise activities to commemorate the International Museum Day and promote museums’ role worldwide, creating unique, free, and fun activities around the theme chosen that are discussed within the community of ICOM specifically for this special day.

The director of National Museums in Seychelles, Beryl Ondiek, told SNA that local museums held public speaking competitions for school children and hosted restoration work at the Tea Tavern located at Morne Blanc during the week-long celebration.

“This year, when we speak of sustainability and well-being, we thought of having activities for primary and secondary school children as they are the next generation so that they can learn about the heritage and history as well as see what they already know. We want our school children to be concerned about and to learn more about our heritage. This is why we invited them to the museum to learn more and then go forth to share it with the public or an audience,” said Ondiek.

Local museums held public speaking competitions for school children. (National Museums in Seychelles) Photo License: CC-BY

She said that “We have a restoration programme through which we are contributing within this biodiversity space that is being protected. As the custodians of our heritage, why don’t we go out and protect this natural heritage that we have?”

During the museum day programme, the public had free access to the National Museum of History and were entertained by live traditional music.

“Through free access to the museum, we were encouraging the public to visit the museum to learn about their heritage and history,” she shared.

Ondiek outlined that though more activities were intensely organised around International Museum Day itself, there are other educational programmes that take place throughout the year. These activities target both children and adults.

“We have a variety of activities planned until December. In June for the International Day of the Environment, for example, we will be hosting a symposium to see how we can help to reduce the amount of waste that is ending in the landfill. The museum is the platform that we can use to deal with topics that are of concern to the government, society, or the public. We can come together to find a solution for these issues,” said Ondiek.

Source: Seychelles News Agency