Erige Sehiri’s PROMISED SKY and Jihan’s MY FATHER AND QADDAFI, both distributed by MAD Solutions, won three awards at the 31st MedFilm Festival held in Rome from November 6th to 16th, with the former receiving the Piuculture Award and the Ecumenical Award, and the latter earning the Valentina Pedicini Award.
 
In a joint statement, the Jury praised MY FATHER AND QADDAFI and outlined the reasons behind its selection for the Valentina Pedicini Award, saying “For its ability to draw the viewer into the intimate sphere of the author’s personal story through the narration of a violent and powerful historical context — one deeply rooted in Libyan, but also Italian and global history — combined with the use of archival and journalistic material capable of tracing the nuances of terror that emerged both from the sudden loss of a father and from the increasingly violent and dictatorial rise of Gaddafi’s regime.”
 
“For the melancholy tenderness with which it seeks, through historical traces, the lines that shaped the strong and fearless profile of a father who refused to bow before certain death. Because it teaches us all that each of our lives can become an experience and testimony of revolution,” they continued.
 
Jihan’s MY FATHER AND QADDAFI follows a daughter as she unravels the disappearance of her father, the opposition leader to Qaddafi, and pieces together her mother’s 19-year search to find him. Without any memory of her father, she tries to reconnect with him and reconcile with her Libyan identity.
 
A US and Libyan production, MY FATHER AND QADDAFI had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival — becoming the first Libyan film in 13 years to do so —and has since screened at numerous film festivals, including Chicago, Middle East Now, and the Arab Film Festival in the USA.
 
Featuring Jihan herself, Baha Sobhi Al Omary, and the late Rashid Mansur Kikhia as main characters, the 88-minute documentary is lensed by Micah Walker and Mike McLaughlin, and edited by Alessandro Dordoni, Chloe Lambourne (of the Oscar-nominated FOR SAMA), and Nicole Halova.
 
Meanwhile, Erige Sehiri’s PROMISED SKY is a co-production between France, Tunisia, and Qatar, starring Aïssa Maïga, Laetitia Ky, Deborah Naney, and Mohamed Grayaa and lensed by Frida Marzouk, who has worked with Sehiri before on UNDER THE FIG TREES and was involved in all the JOHN WICK movies. The film tells the story of Marie, Naney, and Jolie, who live together in Tunisia, sheltering Kenza, a shipwreck survivor. As this unorthodox family forms, crises make each woman reconsider her place.
 
Following its acclaimed world premiere as the Opening Film of Un Certain Regard at the 78th Cannes Film Festival and its triple win at the Festival du Film Francophone d’Angoulême, the film made its way to several film festivals, including Mostra de Valencia — where it won the Best Screenplay Award — Durban, Rio de Janeiro, and Munich.