For the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, Tunisia reaffirms its presence within the International Village, in the Pantiero Espace, with an official pavilion organized by the National Center for Cinema and Image (CNCI), under the supervision of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. A space supposed to embody the rise of Tunisian cinema, create bridges with the international, make local talents shine. However, if the structure is indeed there, its animation and its visibility raise questions.
Yesterday, the festival’s opening day, the pavilion opened its doors. But without a program. Until the afternoon, no event was announced, no official communication had been broadcast, no invitation had been sent. It was only late in the evening that a press release was published on the CNCI Facebook page, listing the few scheduled meetings this year. Here they are:
– Wednesday May 15 at 7 p.m., A tribute will be paid to the film team Promised the sky From the director Erige Sehiri, selected in the Un certain Locat section. A symbolic meeting to salute the presence of a Tunisian film in the official selection and underline the continuity of a sensitive look at youth, after Under the figs in 2022.
– Friday May 17 at 11 a.m.a media meeting around the 36th edition of Carthage Cinematographic Days (JCC) will allow organizers to present the outline of the next edition, its orientations, its new features, and-perhaps-its ambitions in terms of regional and international influence.
– Sunday, May 19 at 11 a.m.a round table entitled Tunisian cinema between past and present will bring together professionals and observers around the challenges of cinematographic memory, mutations in industry, and the new emerging voices of the Tunisian landscape. A potentially strong moment, provided that it is well relayed, open and really inclusive.
Too late. Far too late. In Cannes, time does not take itself: it reserves. From the days before the opening, the professionals finalize their agendas, respond to the many requests, select panels, receptions, meetings. Their schedules are locked long before the festival opened. In this context, to announce a program the day before the festival amounts to hoping that they have “a small niche for Tunisians”… if possible.
Meanwhile, other countries have shown a completely different level of preparation and strategy. The Egyptian, Iraqi, Jordanian, Palestinian – pavilions – to name a few – have communicated for several weeks. They shared their event programs, the names of their guests, the themes of their panels, the planned projections. Their content circulates on social networks, are relayed by the media, sent by Newsletters, accompanied by neat visuals, photos, posters, videos. They communicate in Arabic, in English, sometimes in French, thus affecting an international audience, wide and diverse.
And Tunisian side? A single press release, released late, written only in Arabic, published on the CNCI Facebook page. No visual. No translation. No press relay. Minimalist, ineffective communication, disconnected from the requirements of an international market. How to attract potential producers, distributors or investors if we do not speak their language, if they are not addressed to them a clear, structured, engaging message? The Tunisian pavilion seems to be frozen in an outdated functioning, in a setback of the Cannes rhythm.
However, the announced ambition is commendable: making the pavilion a space for meetings, networking, valuation of Tunisian cinema.
The 2025 edition had to work on an axis again: Promote Tunisia as a land of filming. But then again, the pavilion must still be up to this ambition.
Tunisia, land of filming – A slogan that we have been rehashing for very long years. I could even find photos that I had taken in 2013 during my first Cannes festival, where Tunisia was already trying to communicate on this theme by sticking a few posters. But concretely, what does this desire today mean, beyond a few posters hanging on the pavilion or in the streets of Cannes? Where is the articulated program, designed to enhance Tunisian territory as a space for cinematographic creation? What strategy has been deployed? What network mobilized? What a visible, consistent, multilingual communication campaign has been launched? Who will talk about Tunisia as a shooting destination? Technicians? Producers? Filmmakers? International partners who have shot in Tunisia? Nothing has been announced to date. No details, no name, no invitation campaign, no relays in professional media. This lack of anticipation seriously harms the potential impact of these initiatives.
We announce a tribute to the team of Promised the sky. It’s good. But very insufficient. This year, Tunisia could have – and had to do much more. For the first time in the history of its presence in Cannes, a Tunisian film opens the section A certain lookthe second most important competition in the festival. Promised the sky D’Erige Sehiri, carried by young non-professional actresses and anchored in a vibrant social reality, benefited from an exceptional positioning, a rare opportunity of international visibility.
But what does the CNCI do to promote this film? What does the Tunisian pavilion do? To my knowledge: nothing. No specific press release. No highlighting of the film in the days preceding the festival. No invitation sent to professionals, journalists, decision -makers to come and meet the team or attend an event around the film. Not even a visible poster in the pavilion to remind you that this film, the one that opens A certain lookis Tunisian.
We announce a round table on Tunisian cinema between past and present. Alright. But who are the participants? What are their specialties? Will there be only Tunisians? Names known to attract attention? A strong personality like Hend Sabry, for example? Elsewhere, the stars are there: Hussein Fahmy, Youssra, Amina Khalil…
So many levers yet available to build a strong and coherent presence: a film at the opening ofA certain lookcarried by a filmmaker already praised in Cannes, the emergence of a new generation of talents, a renewed attraction for filming in Tunisia … All the elements were gathered to initiate a daring, current communication strategy aligned with the standards of an event like Cannes.
At a time when other countries in the Arab world are building active, coherent cultural diplomacy, and proudly worn on the international scene, Tunisia continues to give the image of a disorganized actor, out of step with current professional uses, unable to transform its assets into real opportunities.
However, the skills are there. Tunisia is full of young creative professionals, committed, capable of thinking and acting with modern methods of the international environment. We should simply trust them, give them the means, and above all allow them to act in time.
Hopefully the next few days will make it possible to catch up, if only a little, this lack of initiative. But in Cannes, lost opportunities rarely catch up.
Neïla Driss
