About
Envirofest Tunisia
At a time when the environmental issue is emerging as the major challenge for the years to come, both globally and locally, the organizers of EnviroFest wanted to bring their expertise as environmentalists, organizers of cultural events and media in order to challenge the general public, especially the youngest, in the most impactful way, thus creating awareness and a desire for action, through cinema and other cultural and artistic activities.
THE CONCEPT IS SIMPLE
- Organize and program a film festival by calling on renowned international and national partners whose recognition as guarantors of quality is beyond doubt. The Tunisian National Center of Cinema, the Tunisian Cinémathèque, the Tunis Opera House, the European Union, the French Institute of Tunisia, United Nations agencies such as SPA/RAC-UN Environment, several embassies, as well as private partners.
- Go beyond the cinematographic and artistic framework, by provoking serious scientific debates, in order to advocate for essential causes, while popularizing the problems and solutions in a playful way.
- During itinerant events that cover different regions, we rely on local organizations and institutions to create a national network that is a platform for discussing global and national environmental issues, with themes that take into account the specificities and local issues (water, desertification, oases, agriculture, oceans, etc.).
- Even if EnviroFest is thought and conceptualized as a national cinematographic and cultural event, its implementation is done locally thanks to partnerships with local organizations and institutions that carry the project and appropriate it as a franchise in a collaborative approach. In each city, EnviroFest Tunisia becomes EnviroFest Bizerte, EnviroFest Redeyf or EnviroFest Gabes during the Road Show, and local actors are not only involved but are the only organizers vis-à-vis the public in their region.
The team
The organizers of ENVIROFEST TUNISIA are a team of seasoned professionals from the film industry, communication, events and science. They bring together decades of international experience and recognized scientific rigor.
Hisham Ben Khamsa
Executive Director of EnviroFest and President/Founder of Tunisia Cinema Foundation, Hisham Ben Khamsa is a cultural activist, specialist in communication and cinema and a veteran of the Tunisian, Arab and African film industry. For many years and until 2019, he was the communication director of the Carthage Film Festival JCC. In 2007, he founded the Tunisian Cinema Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival on behalf of the Tunisian Ministry of Culture. Hisham is also a translator and subtitler from and into English, French and Arabic of Tunisian and international films selected and awarded at the biggest festivals in the world, Cannes, Venice, Toronto, the French Césars and the Oscars.
Sonia El Euch
Secretary General of Tunisia Cinema Foundation, Sonia is a communication and marketing specialist with a long career in advertising and public relations for major companies. She is director of communication and in charge of partnerships for EnviroFest. Between 2017 and 2019, she was in charge of institutional communication and partnerships for the Carthage Film Festival JCC. Sonia is a theater and movie actress.
Lamia Bouziri
Scientific advisor to EnviroFest and in charge of organizing the Environmental Village, Lamia Bouziri is a PhD in Environmental Sciences, an engineer in food engineering and currently a researcher at the Water Research and Technology Center at the Bordj-Cédria technology park in Tunisia. Lamia is involved in the promotion of urban agriculture and its inclusion in the strategic plans of cities in Tunisia through the European project EdicitNet. She is also committed to promoting responsible consumption, preserving health and the environment. She believes in the power of childhood education to change mentalities and impact the way of consuming, eating and living in harmony with one’s environment.
Samir Ben Haj Yahia
Former Director General at the Tunisian Ministry of Culture, Samir Ben Haj Yahia is currently in charge of events and logistics at EnviroFest. Samir is a culture specialist in Tunisia with over 40 years of experience. He was secretary general of the National Cultural Committee, several times director of the International Festival of Carthage and director of events at the Carthage Film Festival JCC, and a dozen other festivals in Tunisia.
KARIMA OUESLATI
A graduate of the prestigious Institute of Press and Information Sciences of Tunis, IPSI, Karima is a seasoned journalist with a career spanning more than two decades in radio and television. A specialist in the Arab and African cultural scene, she has covered every cultural event in the region, cinema, theater, music, publishing and more. From Cannes to Marrakech via Cairo, Dubai and Al Gouna, Karima is also an international expert in public relations. She heads the media department of EnviroFest Tunisia.
BADIS BEN KHAMSA
A software engineer by training, Badis is in charge of all digital programming, including selecting films for the VR and animation sections of the festival. For the last two years, he has conducted cinema workshops for the EnviroFest Kids section and is an active member of the Tunisian Federation of Ciné-clubs.
BILEL KHALSI
Bilel is programmer for the short films section and the documentary section of the festival. Prior to EnviroFest, he was the coordinator for Carthage Pro, the industry platform of the Carthage Film Festival JCC. Bilel is an active member of the Tunisian Federation of Ciné-Clubs.