The Door of the sea

My name is Yassine Ellil, I'm author / Screenwriter /illustrator and editor. After graduating from the School of Arts and Decoration, the EAD specialty Graphic Arts at 23 years old, I invented several series of comics published in Tunisian magazine of comics for children such as the 'Gazelle', 'Aladin' and 'Irfan'. I worked as a freelance illustrator for Tunisian and foreign publisher and communication agencies.Then,I wrote cartoon scripts for children for Al Jazeera Children’s TV channel (The Science Tower).In May 2011,I published on my own account the first political and humorous comic book album published after the Tunisian revolution entitled "Good bye ben Ali". It was then in February 2012, that I founded my own publishing house: Couss & Co Edition, specialised in the publication of books of comics.In 2017, I wrote the screenplay for the children's television series ‘Jnoun El Kayla’ broadcast on the channel El Watania 1.

The "Door to the Sea" magazine project target children aged between 7 to 12 years old. Each issue of the magazine will deal with the problem of intolerance that can develop in children. Educators and parents could use the magazine as a guide to open dialogue with the child about the benefits of tolerance. Thus, this magazine encourages intercultural dialogue, because it explains the problem to the child and teaches him the acceptance of diversity from an early age. These issues will be addressed by: Comics and educational sections.Our project of a magazine of comics 'The Door of the Sea' is very important in getting children passionate about reading in a world of technology and quick access to information. Another objective is to educate children to tolerance and promote intercultural dialogue by using comics as a didactic and playful medium.

Intolerance stems from ignorance and incomprehension, these are the most serious dangers that threaten our country, Tunisia. To live in a society where openness reigns, we must teach our children to question themselves rather than to judge.The learning of tolerance is done at a young age and continues throughout life,hence the need for this magazine which treats the problem of intolerance which represents the germ of violence and can lead in some cases to terrorism.Each issue of magazine'The door of the sea' will deal with the problem of intolerance that can develop in children.10.000 child bought the magazine.We estimate to reach 100,000 copies in the next 4 years. Cultural desertification:Currently in Tunisia,79% of Tunisians do not have books at home.Another worrying fact is that 81% have not read any books in the past year.With regard to children, in the past two years,there has not been a single Tunisian magazine of comics or another magazine aimed at children aged 7 to 12;Worse,the new publications of books intended for this age group did not exceed fifty for the year 2016, which is derisory compared to the number of Tunisian children enrolled in primary schools for the year 2016/2017,which is 3 million.

The project consists of creating a magazine of comics for children between 7 and 12 years old in Arab literary. Our goal is to educate children about tolerance from an early age.This magazine was sold at a low price in state schools in Tunisia and it is in arabic literary. As a start, we printed 5000 copies and distributed them in state primary schools on the capital Tunis.We sold 5000 copies of the first issue (copy test) and estimate to sell 50,000 copies for next months of sales. 20% of the sale price was  spent on improving the infrastructure of state primary schools and creating libraries. 60% of the sale price to pay the magazine team, designers, graphic design: Layout,coloring and cover design for each issue. 20% of the sale price was devoted to the distribution of the magazine in state schools in Tunisia: The capital Tunis has 200,000 child who study in state primary schools.We started by selling the magazine in the capital Tunis: Ariana,Ben Arous,then we have enlarged our sales sphere until reaching Sfax, Sousse,and the south of Tunisia :Nafta, Tozeur,the northeast: Nabeul and north-west poor area which is influenced by terrorism: Kef,Siliana and Sidi Bouzid. 

The company 'Couss & Co' manage a project of a magazine of comics entitled 'The door to the sea', which aims to educate children about tolerance and to promote intercultural dialogue. Through the magazine, we will deal with the Tunisian identity in all the comics and columns. This identity is a mixture of several Mediterranean and other cultures. Thus,the child who reads this magazine will be aware of the diversity of his heritage and will be guided to understand and accept other cultures and tolerate them .Each issue of the magazine deal with the problem of intolerance that can develop in children. These issues will be addressed by:Comics and educational sections. Our mission is to teach children the love of their country and the acceptance of diversity by using comics as an innovative,educational and playful medium which combines several means of artistic expression like literature, cinema and graphic art.Our projec of a magazine for children is very important in order to create a whole market, an industry of the 9th art in a country like Tunisia which has suffered for some years from an alarming cultural desertification.

The magazine treats with the problem of intolerance that can develop in children.Our mission is to teach them the love of their country and the acceptance of diversity.What is innovative in our project is that we deal with the Tunisian identity in all comics.The most suitable way to arouse the child's interest is the use of comics,it is an art that brings together image and writing in a fun way that stimulates the imagination of the child.We are a   team made up of young talented,dynamic and passionate about the art of comics who want to transmit their passions to children.

The origins of the project: meetings with Arab artists in 2015, we were invited to an international comic book festival in Alger 'FIBDA', we met several artists from several Arab countries (Lebanon, Jordan, Libya, Egypt). We have discussed the problems and we believe that intolerance and ignorance are the most serious dangers which threaten our countries. We expressed the desire to meet in the perspective of an artistic project that motivates us, hence the idea of launching this project. Further more, when I was a child, I lived in the neighborhood of 'the sea gate"which is the name of a monument located in the center of the capital Tunis. It was named after this door which faces the sea. This monument connects the old Arab city of Tunis and the part of the city built by Europeans. So, I chose this name for the title of the magazine to express Tunisia's openness to the cultural riches of civilization in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. The magazine aims to promote comics in Tunisia and passionate children for the 9th art by arousing their curiosity with original and inventive content based on headings and comics that reflect everyday life and the Tunisian environment.

In the first issue, there was two comics, each consisting of 8 pages. The first comic is autobiographical entitled "The Door to the Sea" and deal with religious diversity and tolerance between Christians, Jews and Muslims. Drawings and scenario: Yassine Ellil, colors: Rym Jâafra / Type: Lyric story. Synopsis: Yassine tells in this autobiographical comic his childhood in the district "Bab el baher", the door of the sea: It was at the end of the 70s that he had Maltese, Italian, Jewish neighbors ... Anecdotes, adventures and poetry will be present to tell this lyrical and dreamy story of Tunisia at that time. Through this comic, we go further by telling a story of solidarity between the members of these 3 communities who have lived in Tunisia in peace and solidarity. There was headings related to each story, for example, in the comic "The door of the sea", which talks about religions, we devote a heading explaining in a simplified way to the children the principles of each of these three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism, their common points which are numerous ...

In 2012, our publishing house ‘Couss & Co’ launched a magazine of comics  entitled ‘Couscous Belban’ for children between 7 and 12 years old. The review aims to promote the art of comics and above all tries to fascinate children for the 9th art by arousing their curiosity through original and inventive content that reflects the Tunisian identity. All comics are designed with passion and humor to attract the child and make him interested in reading while developing his curiosity and enriching his vocabulary and knowledge. The magazine was sold in 5.000 copies in private primary schools in Tunis.In collaboration with the association "Kolna Tounes", we have distributed the magazine in areas affected by terrorism such as Oued Mliz, Neber, Rouhia and Fernana. We organized workshops of comics for children between 7 and 12 years old; It was about initiation to the techniques of the 9th art in a simplified way (writing of the scenario, creation of the characters, elaboration of the drawings). Each child created a story from drawing to graphic realization. Our goal is to provide children with a way to express themselves through learning the art of comics while having fun.

The first risk that threaten the execution of our project was the closure of state schools,booksellers and culture houses in Tunisia  because of the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. During this Covid 19 health crisis, our publishing house has taken new strategies by adapting to the current situation and tries to found innovative strategy: We have decided to put online the magazine 'The door of the sea' , the magazine was accessible to children confined at their homes thanks to an interactive website, the site contains a free and a paid part, children will be able to read all the comics from the magazine online in order to have fun during confinement.A second risk was that parents and children have lost the habit of going to newsstands to buy a magazine because it has been a long time since there has been no publication of magazine for children in Tunisia. In this case and from our experience, the magazine's designers go promote the revue in state primary schools located near bookstores and arouse children's curiosity to encourage them to come and buy the magazine.

Animation of children's cartoon workshops on the subject of tolerance and the environment:It was the organization of workshops of comics for children between 7 and 12 years old in collaboration with 40 cultural centers located in working-class poor neighborhoods and regions touched by terrorism. The designers of the magazine traveled to 40 cultural centers to introduce the 9th art to children. These workshops was organized during the 2 weeks of winter and spring holidays according to the school system of state schools in Tunisia.The subject was the education of children to tolerance through the 9th art and teach them to respect the environment.It was an introduction to the techniques of comics in a simplified way (writing the script, creating the characters, drawings). Our goal is to provide children with a way to express themselves through learning the art of comics while having fun. Each child created a story from the script to the graphic design. At the end of these workshops, we distributed 500 copies of magazine The door of the sea’ magazine for free to participants. Total number of workshops: 40. Number of children per session: 10. Duration: 1.5 hours. Total number of children: 400.

Our publishing house ' Couss & Co' is in partnership with Tunisian center for social entrepreneurship:The TCSE is a non-profit organization created in 2012 with the vision of making Social Entrepreneurship a pillar of the Tunisian economy by offering sustainable and innovative solutions to economic and social issues. The TCSE supported the creation of 150 jobs and more than 100 projects located in different regions of Tunisia.TCSE’s mission is to create an ecosystem conducive to innovation and social entrepreneurship through an inclusive approach that extends to reach public institutions and policies, NGOs, entrepreneurs, innovators and young citizens.

What is innovative in our project of a magazine of comics is that we deal with the Tunisian identity in all comics and sections. The most suitable way to arouse the child's interest is the use of comics, because it is an art that brings together image and writing in a fun way and that stimulates the imagination of the child. We are a team made up of young talented, dynamic and passionate about the art of comics who want to transmit their passions to children.Our strategy to guarantee the sustainability of the project is to continue to make interventions with the magazine in state primary schools and not to limit ourselves to the same school or the same region in terms of sales. Our target audience are children between 7 and 12 who will continue to buy the issues to follow from the magazine, because there will be exciting stories full of adventures and suspense in each issue, it will attract the attention of the child, who while reading the first episode, will ask with curiosity the continuation of each story. This will allow us to stabilize customers and therefore the possibility of increasing the number of buyers who will continue to be loyal to the purchases of 6 issues per year and subscribe to the magazine throughout the year. We are going to create special issues with other exciting stories that children will find on sale in bookstores with a low price in each quarter.

Our publishing house's mission is to educate children about tolerance and acceptance of diversity by using comics as a didactic and playful medium.Each issue of the magazine 'The door of the sea' deals with the problem of intolerance that can develop in children.Educators and parents could use the magazine as a guide to open dialogue with the child about the benefits of tolerance.Thus, this magazine encourages intercultural dialogue, because it explains the problem to the child and teaches him the acceptance of diversity from an early age.These issues will be addressed by: Comics and educational sections.• Objectives and changes:1) A tolerant child: Educate children about tolerance (religion, sex, skin color, disabled person,weight) by making them aware of the richness of cultures around the world. 2)A child citizen of the world: Thanks to a well studied educational content, the Tunisian child will learn the love of his country and of other countries and the goal will be that he considers himself a citizen of the world.3) A cultivated Arab child: The magazine promotes the cultural development of children and tries to enrich their culture by making them discover their identity and heritage. Another objective is to educate the child to respect the environment and protect it.4) An opportunity for Tunisian artists: In each issue of the magazine, the project will be based on one or more Tunisian designers and authors who will be able to earn a living by practicing their art, it creates dynamism between the team of the magazine also a richness in content. Intolerance stems from ignorance and incomprehension, these are the most serious dangers that threaten our country,Tunisia.To live in a society where openness reigns, we must teach our children to question themselves rather than to judge.The learning of tolerance is done at a young age and continues throughout life, hence the need for this magazine which addresses the problem of intolerance which represents the germ of violence and can lead in some cases to terrorism.We believe in our magazine and we really want to change children's view of the world with a tolerant thinking and attitude.

The project consists of creating a magazine of comics aimed at children between 7 and 12 years old. Our goal is to educate the child about tolerance from an early age. This magazine was sold at a low price  in state schools in Tunisia and it was in Arabic literary. As a start, we printed 5000 copies of the first copy (test number) and distributed them in state primary schools on the capital Tunis.; We sold  5,000 copies of each issue for the first 6 months of sales: The capital Tunis has 200,000 students enrolled in state primary schools. We estimate to reach 150,000 copies in the next 5 years. We started by selling the magazine in the capital Tunis: Ariana, Ben Arous, Manouba then we widen our sales sphere until reaching Sfax, Sousse, Monastir and the south of Tunisia like Nafta, Tozeur and north-west: Kef, Siliana, Sidi Bouzid and the northeast: Nabeul. Periodicity: 6 issues per year (school months). Social impact of the magazine "La porte de la mer":Our project for a children's comic magazine 'The Door to the Sea' is very important in getting children passionate about reading in a world of technology and quick access to information. Another objective is to educate children to tolerance and promote intercultural dialogue by using comics as a didactic and playful medium.

To guarantee and follow the success of our magazine 'The Door of the sea'', our publishing house is always looking for young creative Tunisian designers, authors and screenwriters in order to integrate them into our team and encourage them to freely express their ideas what will boost our business to success.Thus,the sales of the first issue will shed light on what children will prefer most among the heroes present in the magazine. Our strategy to guarantee the sustainability of the project is to continue to make interventions with our magazine in state primary schools and not to limit ourselves to the same school or the same region in terms of sales.Children  will continue to buy the issues to follow from the magazine, because there will be exciting stories full of adventures and suspense in each issue, it will attract the attention of the child, who while reading the first episode, will ask with curiosity the continuation of each story.This will allow us to stabilize customers and therefore the possibility of increasing the number of buyers who will continue to be loyal to the purchases of 6 issues per year and subscribe to the magazine throughout the year.Our goal is to reach poor children and distribute the magazine in regions affected by terrorism and give a chance for poor kids to express themselves by using comics.

The difficulties which can threaten the execution of the project is the propagation of a second wave of Coronavirus contamination in Tunisia and the closure of state primary schools and librairies. As also, the closing of printing houses which will influences our advancement and our productivity for the next year.

In case of a second futur confinement, children will find the magazine online thanks to a website, they could read all our stories and have fun at home.They could read the great story of 'The Incredibles', Type: Fantastic, science fiction:Synopsis: The main characters are five children: two girls and three boys. Our protagonists each one have a super power, these powers are linked to Tunisian symbols that once united, they form the hand symbol of Fatma, and it is thanks to this power that they will save humanity from a imminent danger. Comic: "Gorilla", type: Science fiction, adventure and humor. Drawings and scenario: Yassine Ellil, colors: Rym Jâafra.Script of the story: In this comic, all the characters are animals, the main character is the inspector 'Gorilla', he must solve the diamond theft of a Tunisian billionaire by individuals who used the same trick than Ulysses by immobilizing the super robot responsible for surveillance. The futuristic buildings are inspired by the original forms of Tunisian jewelry. This futuristic Tunisia is certainly advanced, but its environment is polluted. It is a reflection on the future of man and his greed that pushes him to degrade his environment to earn more. There will be sections linked to each story. For example, in the story "The three friends", which talks about religions, we will devote a section explaining in a simplified way to children the principles of each of these three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism, their common points which are numerous ...

Our publishing house 'Couss & Co' is partner with the ministry of national education of Tunisia,this convention allows us to make Intervention in state primary schools: During the beginning of the year, we make interventions with the magazine 'The door of the sea' in the classes to promote our revue to children. We are starting a very efficient and innovative sales strategy;  Author Yassine Ellil and the designer Rym Jâafra entered class by class to introduce children to the 9th art by explaining to them the tricks of the creation of a comic strip and by showing them what the profession of the comic book makeris, behind the scenes of the creation of all the comics and the sections and especially they told the children the story of 'Aiche and Ayoub' extracted from the magazine 'The door of the sea' in order to create at home the sense of discovery and suspense to go buy the magazine.Synopsis of the comic: This is the story of a girl who goes on a quest for a magic flower that has the power to heal her sick father. She will meet strange creatures from Tunisian tales who will block her path, but thanks to her courage, her kindness and the help of a boy named Ayoub, she will succeed in overcoming all difficulties.

We have received financial support from the MED UP grant :This project is co-founded by the European Union and working on promoting social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region. The total amount of the grant is : 19. 202 USD. We received the grant early January 2020.Our publishing house 'Couss & Co' was generating revenues from selling our magazine in schools and all the newsstands from north to south in 213 points of sale with the intermediary of the company Sotupresse. In the past 12 months,our company is generating 17. 627 USD : 20% of the sale price of the magazine was be spent on improving the infrastructure of state primary schools and creating libraries. 60% of the sale price to pay the magazine team: designers, graphic design: Layout, coloring and designing the cover for each issue. 20% of the sale price will be devoted to the distribution of the magazine in state schools in all regions of Tunisia.

We are applying for The Elevate Prize,because we believe that our project of a magazine of comics is very important project to change minds and educate children about tolerance and  promote intercultural dialogue.We are working on a very exciting stories full of adventure to initiate children about reading in a world of technology and quick access to information. Another objective is to stimulate imagination of the child and promote intercultural dialogue by using comics as a didactic and playful medium.Our objective is to promote the art of comics and above all tries to passionate children for the 9th art by arousing their curiosity through original and inventive content that reflects the tunisian identity. Our mission is to educate children to be tolerant and accept cultural diversity from an early age.Each issue of the magazine ' The door of the sea' will deal with the problem of intolerance that can develop in children. These issues will be addressed by: Comic books and educational sections. Our mission is to teach children the love of their country and the acceptance of diversity by using comics as an innovative, educational and playful medium which combines several means of artistic expression. like literature, cinema and graphic art.