Mai Masri's 3000 Nights Receives Two Awards at the Carthage Film Festival

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The Bronz Tanit and the Screenplay Prize

Mai Masri's 3000 Nights Receives Two Awards at the Carthage Film Festival


During the closing ceremony of the Carthage Film Festival (JCC), which was held on Saturday November 5th, Palestinian Director Mai Masri's feature film 3000 Nights was announced winner of two awards, reaching 17 awards from international festivals in total. The two awards are; the Bronz Tanit within the Feature Film competition (5000 TND) and the Screenplay Prize for a feature film within the Official Competition (5000 TND).

First established in 1966, the JCC is the longest-standing film festival in the Arab world and Africa. The festival was hosted every two years until it became an annual event ever since its edition in 2014. Since it was first founded, the prestigious JCC is always devoted to screening remarkable Arab and international films, with recognition to their filmmakers. This year, the 27th edition will commemorate the festival's 50th anniversary.

Most recently, 3000 Nights won the Kantara France Bleu RCFM and the Hors les Murs awards at the Festival du Film et des Cultures Méditerranéennes in Bastia. Palestinian actress Maisa Abdelhadi won the Best Actress Award for her role in the film at the closing ceremony of the 2nd Mediterranean Film Festival of Annaba (FAFM) in Algeria. Likewise,3000 Nights has won the Best Feature Film Award and the Audience Award at the Malmö Arab Film Festival (MAFF) in Sweden, the Audience Award at the Arab Camera Festival in Rotterdam, and another Audience Award at the Mizna's Twin Cities Arab Film Festival in Minnesota, USA.

The film won eight awards: the Tao Edu Young Prize at Taormina Film Festival in Italy, the Youth Jury Award at the International Film Festival and Forum for Human Rights, Switzerland, and the Audience Award at The Annonay International Film Festival in France. The film also won the Special Jury Award at Washington, DC International Film Festival (Filmfest DC), the Jury Award at the 8th Women's International Film and Television Showcase (The WIFTS), USA the Meeting Point Audience Award at the 60th Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain, as well as the Youth Jury Award and the Women's Jury Award at the Paysages des Cineastes in France.

The film's world premiere was held at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and it was also screened in the US within the Palm Springs International Film Festival in California. The film competed also at Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and had a series of full-house screenings at BFI London Film Festival and Rotterdam Arab Film Festival.

3000 Nights is a co-production between Jordan, Palestine, France, UAE, Qatar and Lebanon. MAD Solutions is in charge of the distribution of the film in the Arab world. 3000 Nights tells the story of a young Palestinian school teacher who gives birth to her son in an Israeli prison, where she fights to protect him, survive and maintain hope. The film stars Maisa Abdelhadi, Nadera Omran, Raida Adon, Rakeen Saad, Abeer Haddad, Anahid Fayad, Haifa Al Agha, Khitam Edelbi and Hana Chamoun.

Mai Masri is a Palestinian filmmaker. She studied film at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University (USA) where she graduated with a BA degree. Her rich and extensive filmography includes many documentaries focusing on the humanity and resilience of ordinary people characterized with humanistic elements, through which she won over 60 awards at international film festivals, such as Under the Rubble (1983), Wild Flowers: Women of South Lebanon (1986), War Generation Beirut (1998), Children of Fire (1990), Suspended Dreams (1992), Children of Shatila (1998), Hanan Ashrawi: A Woman of her Time (1995), Frontiers of Dreams and Fears (2001), Beirut Diaries: Truth, Lies and Videos (2006) and 33 Days (2007).