Today, last talk of the Forum at 4pm (FID Lounge, 3rd floor of the Artplexe Canebière) and Tête-à-tête with Isabel Pagliai at 6pm (BLUM Brasserie).

For its 36th edition, FIDMarseille remains true to its mission: to spotlight independent cinema that is attentive to the echoes of the contemporary world and to the stories that reveal its fractures, both intimate and collective.

The Audience Award is open for voting until Sunday noon: among the competing films, choose your favorite!

To end this 36th edition on a high note, join us at the Petit Théâtre of La Friche la Belle de Mai from 10:30 p.m. - and until 4 a.m. - this Sunday for the Grand Closing Party!

Today, last talk of the Forum at 4pm (FID Lounge, 3rd floor of the Artplexe Canebière) and Tête-à-tête with Isabel Pagliai at 6pm (BLUM Brasserie).

For its 36th edition, FIDMarseille remains true to its mission: to spotlight independent cinema that is attentive to the echoes of the contemporary world and to the stories that reveal its fractures, both intimate and collective.

The Audience Award is open for voting until Sunday noon: among the competing films, choose your favorite!

To end this 36th edition on a high note, join us at the Petit Théâtre of La Friche la Belle de Mai from 10:30 p.m. - and until 4 a.m. - this Sunday for the Grand Closing Party!

It’s just a burning thought, It’s Just a Burning Thought

Firas Ben Ali

Tunisia, 2024, 8’

Synopsis

It’s Just a Burning Thought follows a faceless woman on a quiet, intentional journey of release. Cradling a sheeted pillow — a symbol of lingering thoughts — she moves through shifting landscapes, from desert rain to a river, carrying its familiar weight. Edited in negative, her ghostly figure becomes a symbol of transition. In the final act, she buries the pillow, yet a flickering fire remains. The film is a meditation on what we carry and what we let go — an abstract ritual of surrender. By removing identity and narrative specifics, it invites personal reflection on memory, loss, and transformation.

Biography

Firas Ben Ali

Firas Ben Ali is a non-binary artist and filmmaker hailing from southern Tunisia, based in Tunis. After studying interior design in 2020, they are currently pursuing a Master’s in Writing and Film Directing at ESAC Gammarth. Firas constructs a universe where vulnerability and personal rituals — such as makeup, dreams, and hand-drawn gestures — become tools for survival and connection. Working with digital, analog, and collage techniques, their visual language is deeply personal and often layered with handwritten notes or raw textures. Their directorial debut, Their Issue is the Feminine Gender Expression, was screened at festivals including Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Hamburg International Queer Film Festival, and Point Doc Film Festival in 2022. As a photographer, Firas explores themes of emotion, dreams, and human relationships, exhibiting their series I See Her at the JAOU Festival in 2022. 

School: School of Audiovisual and Cinema Arts in Gammarth

Technical sheet

  • School:
    School of Audiovisual and Cinema Arts in Gammarth