I remember the Mediterranean

A collection of short documentary projects “I remember... the Mediterranean” will come into being with the public on the occasion of the 12th Aubagne International Film Festival. Initiated by the research work of the Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l’Homme (Mediterranean Home of Human Sciences) in Aix-en- Provence, this series consists in a gathering of short ‘stories of life’, testimonies of individual memory - of all ages and environments - from several countries in the Mediterranean basin. Fragile memories, conflictual, always on the verge of being forgotten or exiled, they form a mosaic which shapes our history, between sharing, violence, errancy and hope. Conceived and inspired by the writings of “Je me souviens” (I remember) by Georges Pérec, this collection was the object of shooting for the first time in 2010, according to the theme “Marseilles – Beirut”. Five films were produced by students of the Master of Sciences, Arts, and Technics of Image and Sound (SATIS-Provence University in Aubagne) as an outcome of working with the Lebanese community in Marseilles. In Beirut, students from the Lebanese Fine Arts Acadamy (ALBA, Balamand University) produced similar work. The two schools will present their alternate visions (ten three-minute films) and exchangeon the followings of the program. They will in fact be joined in this program by other Mediterranean schools in 2011 (Istanbul, Genoa...) In 2013, an ensemble of fifty or so films will therefore integrate the operation “Med Mem” (audiovisual memories of the Mediterranean), piloted by the National Audiovisual Institute of Marseilles (Internet broadcasting). The collection is not limited by time (its production will continue beyond 2013 with other school and university partners, and could, in the form of a wall of screens installed in the heart of the future MuCEM (Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations) constitute a body of knowledge and unique understanding at an international level. "I remember... the Mediterranean" associates research, formation and creation. The project will be presented to the public in presence of the film’s actors, directors, researchers and partners.