AHMED ATTIA'S AWARD

The documentary “Eyes on the Sky” winner of the II Ahmed Attia's award for the Dialogue of Cultures.

MEDIMED 2008, the Euro-Mediterranean Documentary Market, hosted the ceremony of the “II Ahmed Attia's Award for the Dialogue of Cultures”, given to the documentary “Eyes on the sky”, directed by the Spanish filmmaker Jesús Garay and produced by Massa d’Or Produccions (Spain) & Silverspace (Spain) & Instituto Luce (Italy).

Courtesy of APIMED, the producer received a 1.000 euros cash prize, awarded for the best documentary pitched in previous editions of MEDIMED. A jury comprised by experienced producers and veteran filmmakers, members of the APIMED Board of Directors, selected the winning film out of 22 nominees; 1 from Belgium “LAUGHTER AGAINST WAR” (Lavinia Productora, Televisió de Catalunya, Lichtpunt); 4 from France “BROKEN MIRRORS MUSLIMS OF EUROPE CHRISTIANS OF MIDDLE EAST“ (Jacques Debs), “COLONIA DIGNIDAD, A NAZI SECT IN THE LAND OF PINOCHET “ (Temps Noir), “OUM KALTHOUM, L'ASTRE DE L'ORIENT” (Treize Au Sud), “THE PAINTING” (Futurikon); 1 from Hungary “BARTÓK'S REQUIEM” (Hoferichter & Jacobs GmbH); 4 from Israel “CHILDREN OF THE BIBLE“ (Gon Productions), “CHRONICLE OF A KIDNAP” (Ruth Diskin Films), “THE BOYS FROM LEBANON” (Go2 Films), “WAVES OF FREEDOM” (Biblical Productions); 1 from Italy “MY COUNTRY” (Vivo Film); 1 from Lebanon “CHILD SOLDIERS” (Beirut Media Center); 2 from Palestine “HAMORABI” (Collage Productions), “TASTE THE REVOLUTION” (Majd Production); 6 from Spain “A TOPOGRAPHY OF MEMORY” (Lavinia Productora, Televisió de Catalunya, DOCLAB), “END OF WAITING TIME” (Inicia Films, Televisió de Catalunya, ITVS), “EYES ON THE SKY” (Massa d’Or Produccions, Televisió de Catalunya, ETB, Instituto Luce, Silverspace), “HOLLYWOOD AT WAR” (Àrea de Televisió, Televisió de Catalunya, TVE, AVRO, TG4, RTBF), “RIF 1921, A FORGOTTEN HISTORY” (Maestranza Films), “SUNDAY AT FIVE” (Batabat); 1 from Sweden “MARI CARMEN ESPAÑA - THE END OF SILENCE” (Tussilago), and 1 from Switzerland “YA SHARR MOUT” (Dschoint Ventschr Filmproduktion). 

“Eyes on the sky” is a historic documentary about the bombing of Barcelona in March, 1938. In the 1930’s, modern industrial technology put to the service of war, created a new situation: massive, instantaneous and indiscriminate destruction affecting civilians as well as soldiers.  Barcelona was the first city ever to be systematically bombed from the air, after the Gernika bombing tragedy. Between March 16th and March 18th of 1938, Barcelona was bombarded non-stop, day and night. In those two days, thousands of citizens lost their homes and more than three hundred lost their lives. Those events were not only tragic for Barcelona, but were determinant in how the fateful Second World War would be fought, with the bombing of Dresden, Cologne, Hiroshima. This 86’ documentary has recently been shown in the cinemas of Barcelona and was pitched as a project at the MEDIMED Pitching Forum in 2005. 
 
The Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Producers of the Mediterranean (APIMED) decided to create this award in order to pay tribute to our dear president and friend, the Tunisian producer Ahmed Attia, who sadly passed away in 2007.

II AHMED ATTIA’S AWARD FOR THE DIALOGUE OF CULTURES SELECTION COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Olga Abazoglou Producer, Les Films du Cyclope, Greece
Boualem Aissaoui Producer, Cim Audiovisuel, Algeria
Mohamed Charbagi Producer, Alif Productions, France
Pau Montagud Director of the Int Doc Festival of Mexico DF
Alex Szalat Commissioning Editor, Arte France, France
Martine Viglione Director of the CMCA, France