Timimoun's short film festival opens its second edition in the Algerian Sahara

7 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Photo : lecourrier-dalgerie.com (adresse collée)

The second Timimoun International Short Film Festival opened on Thursday evening at the town's open-air theatre, in the oasis region of Gourara in the Algerian Sahara. Thirty-six works are taking part, and guests from about fifty foreign countries have come to the south-western town. The festival runs until 10 November.

Culture Minister Malika Bendouda addressed the audience by video link. She described festivals as places where professionals and cinema lovers meet, and she stressed the importance of preserving national memory and history. The wali, or governor, of Timimoun, Souna Benamar, said culture is essential to local development.

The programme combines film screenings, training workshops, round tables, tourist excursions and evening artistic events. For a region better known for its dunes, ksour and red-earth architecture, the festival is also a bid to put Gourara on the cultural map. A mobile screen will carry screenings to communes across the province. The Tinerkouk Caravanserai, a historic site inaugurated during the first edition, has been placed at the disposal of the National Cinema Centre as a production and filming space. Ms Bendouda has said her 2026-2028 programme aims to turn heritage into a major economic pillar, and the caravanserai, which combines history, tourism and film production, fits that approach.

The festival was launched in November 2025, with Senegal as guest of honour and a top prize called the Gourara d'Or. Its aim is to give young filmmakers a platform and to draw cultural life towards the Sahara, away from the capital. Algeria's film tradition has international standing: Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1975 for "Chronicle of the Years of Embers".

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