News

Rithy Panh, Karim Ainouz, Annemarie Jacir, Tala Hadid, Ghassan Salhab join efforts to continue key project development activities.

The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has set up an online mentorship programme to replace its Qumra talent and project development event which was cancelled earlier this month due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 46 projects were to have received support and advice from some 100 industry professionals at the sixth edition of the meeting, originally scheduled to run March 20-25 in Doha.

French director Claire Denis, Greek cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, Us director James Gray, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and Oscar-winning sound editor...

Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (Dfi) backs 32 projects in autumn funding round.

Moroccan filmmaker Narjiss Nejjar (Cry No More), Lebanon’s Bassem Breish and Palestinian director Suha Arraf (Villa Touma, pictured) are among the latest recipients of the Doha Film Institute’s grants programme aimed at first and second-time film-makers in the Middle East and Africa region.

The Qatari organization backed a total 32 projects from 27 countries in its autumn funding round.

Nejjar received support for upcoming film Stateless about a girl who will do anything to re-connect with her mother, including marry an aging, blind man.

Breish is working on The Maiden’s Pond, about two woman connected to the same man who need to find a way of living side by side in the same village.

Arraf, whose last film was Villa Touma, is currently working on The Poster, about a Palestinian village situated within Israeli borders which is stirred up when a controversial poster appears...

Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir’s Nazareth-set dark comedy Wajib scooped the top prize at Diff’s co-financing event the Dubai Film Connection on Sunday.

The project, following a divorced father as he spends the day with his estranged son delivering wedding invitations for his daughter, won Diff’s $25,000 prize.

Jacir’s long-time producer Ossama Bawardi at their joint company Philistine Films is producing.

The Dfc award came hot on the heels of another two awards for the project. Earlier in the week, the picture also received the Asian Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) film grant as well as a development award from the Tribeca Film Institute.

Jacir previously participated at the Dfc with When I Saw You, which was Palestine’s foreign-language Oscar entry and won best Asian film in Berlin and best Arab film in Abu Dhabi

The Diff prize jury consisted of Loic Magneron, founding chief of Paris-based sales company Wide Management, the Toronto...

Annemarie Jacir, Bassem Breish and Hala Lotfy to present projects at co-pro event taking place during Dubai International Film Festival.

Arab cinema focused co-production event the Dubai Film Connection (Dec 10-14) – taking place within the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) (Dec 9-16) - has unveiled its 2015 line-up.

Returning after a one-year hiatus, the Dfc has unveiled a packed slate of 12 film projects from Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco and Jordan.

Under new criteria for the relaunched event, the projects must have 20% of the budget in place.

“We were originally going for 10 projects but as there were so many good submissions we managed to squeeze in an extra two,” said director Jane Williams, who has returned as head of the event.

Palestinian director Annemarie Jacir, Lebanese filmmaker Bassem Breish and Egypt’s Hala Lotfy will be among the directors presenting their upcoming feature projects.

Jacir will present her Nazareth-set dark comedy Wajib revolving around an estranged father...

The Robert Bosch Foundation, one of the main partners of Berlinale Talents, has successfully grabbed the attention of high-profile Arab and German filmmakers through its Film Prize for International Cooperation edition between young German and Arab filmmakers. The festive dinner hosted by the Robert Bosch Foundation on Friday, February 6th, witnessed the presence of a slew of filmmakers and cinema professionals and further guests from the 65th Berlin International Film Festival (currently running).

The dinner gala was attended by several filmmaking figures including Alaa Karkouti, CEO and Co-founder of Mad Solutions; Maher Diab, Creative Director and Co-founder of Mad Solutions; Abdallah Al Shami, Mad's Managing Partner for Mad's Gcc operations; Jane Williams, Arab Cinema Center Consultant at Berlinale; Emirati/Lebanese Producer Paul Baboudjian; Egyptian Producer Hani Osama, Co-founder of The Producers; Emirati Filmmaker Nawaf Al-Janahi; Shivani Pandya, Managing Director of Dubai International Film Festival ;Ahmed Shahm, Founder of the post production company X-Rated; Wagih Ahmed, Co-founder of X-Rated; Lebanese Director Myrna Maakaron; Egyptian Actor/Producer Ahmad Al Fishawy, Founder of Crystal Dog; George David, General Manager of the Royal Film Commission-Jordan; Josef Kullengard, Malmo Arab Film Festival Project Coordinator; Egyptian Filmmaker Marianne Khoury and Hania Mroue, Founder and Manager of Metropolis Art Cinema Association.

The event was also attended by Florian Weghorn, Program Manager at Berlinale Talents;Christine Tröstrum, Project Manager at Berlinale Talents; Berlinale Shorts curator Maike Mia Höhne; Irit Neidhardt, Director at Mec Film;Adriek Van Nieuwenhuyzen, Director of Industry Office International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam;Claudia Jubeh, Head of Programming at Alfilm- Arab Film Festival and Fadi Abdelnour Artistic Director at Alfilm-Arab Film Festival.

Presented by Dr. Ingrid Hamm, CEO of the Robert Bosch Foundation along with Frank W. Albers, Project Manager and Initiator of the Film Prize, the evening was intended in the first place to gather and create a network among Arab and German cinema professionals, as well as the festival's guests. The evening also included the screening of Bassem Breish's Free Range, a winner of the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Foundation.

This year marks the 3rd edition of the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Foundation which grants three awards for international co-operations between young German and Arab filmmakers in the categories documentary, short fiction film and animation.

The 1st Film Prize of Robert Bosch Foundation was initiated in 2013. The three prizes, each worth up to 70,000 Euros, are awarded in a gala within Berlinale Talents to the best 3 projects in the categories: animation, documentary, and short fiction film. One or two members of each winning team will have the opportunity to be guests at Berlinale Talents in its upcoming edition in the following year.

The Film Prize targets film co-productions between young German filmmakers and their partners from the Arab World to encourage intercultural exchange. Applying for this competition starts annually in May and ends in September and the winning film will benefit from the value of the prize in funding his/her film project.