# Djerba Women's Film Festival

The Djerba International Women's and Youth Film Festival held its 12th edition from 24 to 27 October 2026. It showed 68 films from more than thirty countries, competing in four categories, with workshops in Midoun and Houmt Souk; India was the guest of honour.

Source : https://sabaro-travel.com/en/events/cinema-femme-djerba/

From 24 to 27 October 2026, Djerba hosted the 12th International Women's and Youth Film Festival: four days of screenings, competitions, workshops, talks and tributes. The Tunisian actor Mohamed Ali Ben Jemaâ was its honorary director.

## A festival with a new name

The festival was founded in 2014 in Medenine, on the mainland, as the International Documentary and Short Film Festival. It gradually opened up to feature films, fiction and children's cinema. Its 10th edition, in 2024, was held in Djerba on the theme "Cinema and tolerance", and the move to the island was confirmed in 2025 to benefit from better facilities. In 2026 it took its current name, which sets out its two themes: women's place in film, in front of and behind the camera, and young people.

## The 2026 programme

Sixty-eight films were shown. India was guest of honour, and more than thirty other countries were represented, from the Arab world to Europe (France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Croatia) and the Americas.

The official competition had four categories: documentaries, fiction, film-school films and films for young audiences. Documentaries competed for the Golden Phalera and fiction for the Golden Lighthouse. The Tunisian film professor Lamia Belkaïd Guiga chaired the fiction jury, and the critic Pascale Fakhri, from Germany, the documentary jury.

Alongside the screenings:

- a screenwriting masterclass by the Egyptian screenwriter Abdel Rahim Kamal, at the Midoun youth centre;
- a puppet-film workshop with director Imed Oueslati, at the Houmt Souk public library;
- a two-day workshop for children and teenagers, "Telling our story: from reality to documentary";
- a talk on "the role of women in making the cinematic image" and a round table on developing film festivals.

Tributes were paid to Egypt's Dalia Mostafa, Saudi Arabia's Omar Al-Jasser and the Tunisian artists Jamel Madani, Dorra Zarrouk, Afef Ben Mahmoud and Salwa Mohamed.

## Staying in Djerba in late October

Late October still feels like summer in Djerba: the average October high is 28.1 °C and the sea is still around 25 °C, so the festival combines well with a beach stay. The three hotels chosen by Sabaro are five-star resorts with thalasso in the tourist zone: the [Radisson Blu Palace](/en/hotels/radisson-blu-palace-djerba/), the [Hasdrubal Prestige](/en/hotels/hasdrubal-prestige-djerba/) and the [Iberostar Selection Eolia](/en/hotels/iberostar-selection-eolia-djerba/). The [Djerba, Zarzis and the South-East](/en/tunisia/djerba/) page describes the island.

None of the European foreign ministries Sabaro follows advises against Djerba. Your country's advice:

(Depends on the traveller's country: see the table on https://sabaro-travel.com/en/events/cinema-femme-djerba/)

The [Tunisia safety](/en/guides/securite-tunisie/) guide gives the details.

## Frequently asked questions

### When was the Djerba women's film festival held?

Its 12th edition took place from 24 to 27 October 2026.

### How many films were shown?

Sixty-eight, across four competitive categories and out-of-competition screenings.

### Where were the workshops held?

At the Midoun youth centre and the Houmt Souk public library, among other venues.