ARTS AND CULTURE

Saïd Ben Saïd

Producer

Few cultural figures in the Arab world have been as courageous in opposing the boycott of Israel as Saïd Ben Saïd. In 2017, the distinguished Franco-Tunisian film producer was disinvited from the Carthage International Film Festival in Tunisia because of his work with Israeli director Nadav Lapid. In recognition of his commitment to cultural cooperation, dialogue and understanding between Jews and Muslims, Ben Saïd received the 2018 Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement from the American Sephardi Federation. In an interview with The Algemeiner earlier this year, Ben Saïd remarked that the Arab boycott of Israel "has had terrible consequences on the region." Describing Zionism as "a humanist movement, not a colonial one," Ben Saïd recognized that his viewpoint is a minority one, but insisted nonetheless, “I’m talking as an Arab and as a Muslim, and that’s what I am." (Photo: SBS Productions.)