Director Ridha, actor Cagniard, and actress Greco will be in attendance at the ceremony.
Tunisian film The Island of Forgiveness by Ridha Behi has been nominated for three Septimius Awards, which include Best African Film, Best Actor for Kamil Cagniard, and Best Actress for Katia Greco. At the Netherlands’ International Theater Amsterdam, the winners will be announced during a ceremony held on September 25 and 26.
The Septimius Awards is an award ceremony, with a strong emphasis on discovering and encouraging new independent talent, supporting visionary films and bringing together all elements of filmmaking and storytelling, which includes fiction, non-fiction, animation, television series and scripts.
The Dutch television network will also air the ceremony, which will be attended by Ridha, Cagniard, and Greco.
The selection committee of the Septimius Awards praised the film for its “captivating energy and creativity,” which are the hallmark of all of the films it selects.
The story is that of Andrea Licari, a Tunisian man of Italian descent now 60 years of age, who has become an accomplished author, college professor and a leading thinker in Rome.
The Island of Forgiveness is directed, written, and produced by Behi and stars Claudia Cardinale, Katia Greco, Paola Lavini, Ali Bennour, and Badis Behi. MAD Solutions is handling the film’s distribution.
Previously, the film had its world premiere at the 2022 edition of the Cairo International Film Festival and then eventually made its way to Cairo Cinema Days and Morcco’s Tetouan Film Festival.
“I am truly honoured that our film, The Island of Forgiveness, has received three nominations from the esteemed Septimius Awards. As the film’s writer, director, and producer I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to collaborate with the incredibly talented Katia Greco and the promising young actor, Kamil Cagniard,” said Behi.
“The nomination for Best African Movie serves as a powerful testament to the increasing recognition of the perils posed by the recent surge in various forms of fundamentalism, which threaten the harmonious coexistence and tolerance that have traditionally existed among diverse cultures, ethnicities, and religious beliefs. This acknowledgement underscores the importance of shedding light on these pressing issues through the medium of film,” he added.
Ridha Behi is a Tunisian director who initially studied sociology and received a master’s degree in 1973 from Paris Nanterre University and a PhD in 1977 from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes before becoming a filmmaker.
