Tunisia: The Biouyounihena Festival dedicates five days to women's cinema, from October 3 to 7

The seventh edition of the international Biouyounihena festival will take place from October 3 to 7, 2026, in three Tunisian cities—Nabeul, Hammamet, and Bouargoub—with nineteen short films in official competition, reports the Tunisian daily La Presse. The event is organized by the Tunisian Federation of Film Clubs (FTCC), with the support of the National Center for Cinema and Image (CNCI).

A woman's perspective on the world

The festival is entirely built around the female gaze in cinema. The program features films that offer a woman's perspective on the world, addressing memory, society, and contemporary realities, according to La Presse. Special sections are dedicated to memory, women, and war.

The 2026 edition places hope at the center, with a watchword borrowed from the Lebanese singer Fairouz: "Yes... there is hope." A choice that speaks volumes about the regional context in which this gathering takes place.

Masterclasses, workshops, and debates on AI

Beyond the screenings, the program includes masterclasses, including one dedicated to the Lebanese director Heiny Srour, a pioneer of Arab engaged documentary, as well as training workshops—"Minute Lumière" and a pitch workshop for project leaders. Creative dialogues will address artificial intelligence, gender, and the future of cinema, a debate currently spanning all audiovisual industries on the continent. Egyptian filmmaker Yousry Nasrallah is among the guests.

Screenings will be held at the Hammamet cinema for the opening and the official competition, at Dar Jeelen in Nabeul, and at the Bouargoub cultural center.

The film club network, an African school

The organizer deserves to be highlighted: the Tunisian Federation of Film Clubs is one of the oldest structures of its kind on the continent, born in the wake of the movement that trained generations of cinephiles and filmmakers in the Maghreb. This type of associative network, often volunteer-based, sustains a large part of film distribution in Africa, where commercial theaters have become scarce.

By decentralizing its programming across three cities in Cap Bon rather than concentrating it in Tunis, the festival applies the same logic: bringing films to where the public lives, and not the other way around. The winners of the nineteen short films will be announced at the closing ceremony on October 7, 2026.