INTERNATIONAL EURO ARAB FILM FESTIVAL, AMAL, which began in 2003, has been created with the aim to create collaboration in the audiovisual sector between Spain and the Arab world in order to promote both merging industries.
The festival started as the first competitive festival of this kind in Spain and is organized by the Araguaney Foundation that was founded on 1984 by Dr. Ghaleb jaber Ibrahim, a plaestinian who has been living is Spain for more than 35 years.
Both Foundation and festival are based in Santiago de Compostela, one of the main pilgrimage places of Christianity. A city that symbolizes the brotherhood between countries and cultures, a meeting and mixing place.

Feature films, documentaries or short films by an Arab filmmaker or co-produced with a producer from another country are eligible to be considered for inclusion in the festival. Films that are not produced or co-produced by an Arab filmmaker but which focus on issues related to the Arab world are also eligible for submission.

Last 31st october we have celebrated the closing of the VI edition, building a dialogue bridge among two cultures. AMAL means hope in Arabic, the same hope that guides the work of the Araguaney Foundation since 1984, promoting cultural exchanges and making Santiago de Compostela a lace that links between west and east.

Our values still the same since our first edition: getting West closer to the Arab reality using cinema as a universal language able to fly over the walls and show into our screens. We are convinced that respect and culture are the only valid weapons to reach peace between countries.

THE JURY
The jury of this edition was composed of the following people:

Magda Wassef: President of the jury. Director of the Cinema Department at Arab World Institute (IMA) of Paris.
Abbas Arnaout: Director of Al-Jazeera International Documentary Festival.
Amalia Blanco: Corporative General Director of Vertice 360º.
Eduardo Galan: Programming Director of the Galician Television.
Basel Ramsis: Filmmaker and producer, winner of the Special Public award AMAL 07.
Alejandro Barreiro: Specialist in cinema at the TVE 2 Channel.

AWARDS

Best long fiction film 5.000€
Best documentary 3.500€
Best short fiction film 1.200€
Best short documentary 1.200€
Best director 4.000€
Best female actor Trophy
Best male actor Trophy
Only one of these prizes can be ex-aequo.
Amal Award from the Public 1.500€
Special Galician TV Award

NOMINEES AND AWARDS

BEST FEATURE FILM
Nominees:
“Andalucía”
“Waiting for Pasolini”
“La Maison Jaune”
Winner: “Waiting for Pasolini” (MOROCCO)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Nominees:
“Tiro Libre”
“A jihad for love”
“After the war”
Winner: “A jihad for love” (USA)

BEST FEATURE SHORT FILM
Nominees:
“Sellam and Démétan”
“Abimbowé”
“Silent Night”
Winners:ex - aequo to “Abimbowé” (SPAIN)and “Silent Night” (SWEDEN)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Nominees:
“Borderlands”
“Dear Terrorist”
“Last Station”
Winner: “Borderlands”(JORDAN AND DENMARK)

BEST DIRECTOR
Nominees:
Mohamed Al – Daradji for “Ahlaam”
Amor Hakkar for “la maison jaune”
Winner:Alain Gomis for “Andalucía” (FRANCE)

BEST ACTRESS TROPHY
Nominees:
Elvira de Armiñán for “Bajo el mismo cielo”
Tounes Ait – Ali for “La maison jaune”
Lina Englund for “Silent night”
Winner: “Bajo el mismo cielo” (SPAIN)

BEST ACTOR TROPHY
Nominees:
Samir Guesmi for “Andalucía”
Mohamed Majd for “Waiting for Pasolini”
Abdelhamid Krim for “Bajo el mismo cielo”
Winner: Samir Guesmi for “Andalucía” (FRANCE)

AMAL AUDIENCE SPECIAL AWARD
“La Caravana del Manuscrito Andalusí” (SPAIN)

SPECIAL AWARD GALICIAN TV
Winner: "La Maison Jaune" (FRANCE)