The big challenge of this 3rd edition of Gabés Cinéma Fen is to contribute to the return of the public to the cinemas and theaters. That of the previous edition was to maintain its interest in the artistic programming of the festival; also seize the opportunity of a digital transformation of Gabes Cinéma Fen, a course taken by several directors and festivals in the world, convinced despite the inherent risks, of the need to take a place in this new ecosystem of culture 2.0.

Today it is the time for a reunion with the public of Gabes. It is also the time for a reunion with the Virtual Reality section, the great absentee of the online edition of the festival. Big screen, installations, VR headsets, this 3rd edition wants to reconnect with this physical environment that ensures the immersion of the public in the image.

The image that Gabés Cinéma Fen wants to offer its audience is an image made by auteurs, artists selected for the relevance of their view of the world. Whether it is the Cinema, Virtual Reality, or Video Art programming, the mission is the same: to work towards the discovery of strong artistic proposals and to make people think about the image systems that surround us.

The vectors of image diffusion are more numerous, more mobile, more permanent. They call for continuous production and diffusion. Which narratives do these constructed images restitute? What representations do they convey? What collective imaginary do they construct?

It is to these questions that the Art and Thought section of Gabés Cinéma Fen will dedicate its programming. Masterclasses, workshops, conferences, and meetings will seek to decipher the mechanisms of making a film, the stakes linked to its distribution, its place in the digital economy of the image, its power of influence on our representation of the world and of ourselves.

We hope that this 3rd edition will provide a strong emotional and intellectual experience for all film, video art, and virtual reality lovers. We thank the auteurs, artists, and speakers programmed in Gabes Cinema Fen 2021, for their enthusiasm in making this edition a privileged moment. To all those who missed the physical access to arts and culture, we say Welcome!

Here we are at the dawn of a new edition of Gabes Cinéma Fen. After months very difficult for the world and precisely for the Cinema and the culture, the city of Gabes opens its cinemas and its streets to celebrate the reunion with the Art. For more than a year, we have survived this pandemic thanks to films, music, Art in all its expressions. We understood that the essence of our lives is in this expression of ourselves, our fears, our fantasies and our souls. The closed movie theaters reminded us of the necessity of cinema. Culture is a need, not a privilege. It is also an inalienable right. It took a pandemic to remind us of this. Today, more than ever, it is our duty to be one of the first festivals to fight, with serious programming, far from the mainstream, for the continuity of culture, far from the capitals and the spotlights, hand in hand with the young people of the region, civil society, cultural associations and film clubs, academics. Together, we reflect on this world that is changing at a dizzying pace. Together, we escape. Together, we

Hend Sabri, Honorary President of Gabes Cinéma Fen