BAFF 7 – Ist Golden Fireflies Ceremony 👇
It is with the screening of the documentary The Blue Inmates by Zeina Daccache (2021, 75′) followed by Golden Fireflies Award to the Lebanese director that the Beirut Art Film Festival closed its VIIth edition in person, at the Monnot Theater, Sunday, 28 November 2021.
In the presence of the festival’s Cultural Partners, large audience attended and applauded the Lebanese director & producer film screened for the first time in Beirut. Following the screening, the Golden Fireflies Award, an annual prize, newly founded by BAFF rewarded the work of a woman involved in Lebanese civil society and her commitment.
The Blue Inmates, Zeina Daccache third film shot in Roumieh prison, highlights the inmates of the Blue Building, suffering from mental illnesses and who, due to a judicial aberration, are incarcerated for life. It is the entire prison population that mobilizes around the director to shed light on their drama and try to improve their daily lives.
Nicoletta Bombardiere, Ambassador of Italy, Marion Weichelt, Ambassador of Switzerland, José Maria Ferré, Ambassador of Spain, Heikki Vandermander, Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Belgium, representing Ambassador Hubert Cooreman, Krisi Hayden, Public Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the United States, representing Ambassador Dorothy Schia, André Wardé Director of AFEL welcomed the one “who gave to the weakest, the most isolated and the most deprived, the word that has been taken away from them” as Paul Matar, Monnot Theater director, affirmed.
Miral Morsy, Egyptair director and partner of the ceremony, offered Zeina Daccache a Beirut-Cairo-Beirut ticket.
This Ist Golden Fireflies was awarded to Zeina Daccache by Alice Mogabgab, Maria Chakhtoura and Souraya Karam, organizers of the Beirut Art Film Festival. “In these dark times, your engagement in civil society shines bright and brings a glimmer of hope; it is an inspiration to all those who wish to continue to believe in a better future. At a time when the Lebanese are losing hope and migrating, we decided to stay and continue. In this trophy created for the festival by Alia Mouzannar, this continuity is represented by a robust tree deeply rooted in the earth. And all around this tree, spin the fireflies, which you embody wonderfully. Tonight, your fight is our star, it is indeed the firefly that illuminates the darkness of our daily lives,” said Alice Mogabgab.
in partnership with 👇
Beirut Art Film Festival 