TorinoFilmLab Book of Projects Interchange 2013 Book of Projects 2013

ProectBookof ProectBook13ofInterchange

with the support of Book of Projects 2013

ProectBook13ofInterchange

with the support of Ic Index

Interchange Programme Ic 4 Introduction

6 Tutors

12 Casting Ahmad Abunasser (Tarzan), Mohammed Abunasser (Arab), Rashid Abdelhamid

16 Daoud’s Winter Koutaiba Al-Janabi, Trent

20 Bound Sophie Boutros, Nadia Eliewat

24 Imbaba Samir Eshra, Daniela Praher

28 I Dreamt of Empire Kasem Kharsa, Jessica Landt, Falk Nagel

32 Nezouh Soudade Kaadan, Amira Kaadan

36 Holy Braille Rebecca Lloyd-Evans, Edward Hallett

40 #Fierce (working title) Julian McKinnon, Judith Lou Lévy

44 Two Rooms and a Parlor Sherif Elbendary, Mohamed Salah al Azab, Racha Najdi

48 The Cycle Musa Syeed, Sara Ishaq, Nicholas Bruckman

Trainee Script Consultants

52 Nagham Abboud

53 Rowan Faqih

54 Antoine Waked

56 Staff This is the fourth Interchange Workshop; a subsequently won the main prize at the Dubai collaboration between the TorinoFilmLab, European International Film Festival. Director Jihan Chouaib’s Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) and the Dubai Interchange 2011 project, Breathe, has received International Film Festival; which brings together CNC support and will shoot in 2014. The project writer/director and producer teams from the Arab Heatwave by Joyce Nashawati which was selected and EU countries. The Dubai International Film for Interchange 2012 will be presented at the Dubai Festival and the European Union’s MEDIA Mundus Film Connection this year. Three Interchange programme generously fund Interchange. graduates were selected for the 2013 Berlinale Talent Campus – Gigi Roccati; Italy, Ahmed Amer; During a week in Torino in June and a further Egypt and Hossam Elouan; Egypt. Suha Araj’s short week in Dubai in December the writers, in many film, The Cup Reader, premiered at the TriBecCa cases writer-directors, focus intensively on the Film Festival 2013. development of their scripts working individually and in small groups with the help of script tutors. We hope that the industry decision makers meeting Interchange At the same time, the producers concentrate the Interchange participants at the Dubai Film on the many aspects of the producer’s craft Connection will enjoy their encounter with some Programme including financing, marketing, packaging, sales talented people and fascinating projects and wish and distribution, pitching and networking. Crucially, all our participants the best of fortune not only with the year culminates with a direct encounter with their current projects but in the rest of their careers. ‘the market’ when the participant teams pitch their projects to industry decision makers attending the We have enjoyed working with you this year in Dubai Film Connection. Interchange 2013!

A fundamental aspect of our philosophy is that the Alan Fountain process of meeting and working together creates President, EAVE long term relationships between the participants which will endure into the future to the benefit Savina Neirotti of as yet unknown projects and co-productions. TorinoFilmLab Director This year the Interchange participants come from thirteen different Arab and European countries. Jane Williams They are joined by three script editor trainees – an Dubai Film Connection & Film Forum Director innovation introduced from the start of Interchange – from Palestine and Lebanon.

An update on past Interchange projects and people: renowned documentary director Mai Masri, who participated in Interchange 2011, will shoot her first fiction feature, 3000 Nights, in 2014. Haifaa Al Mansour, a participant in Interchange 2010, whose film Wadjda, the first feature film shot in Saudi Arabia and directed by a woman, premiered in Orrizonti at the 2012 Venice Film Festival and

4 5 Tutors Roshanak Jacques Akchoti - France Behesht Nedjad - Germany Antoine Le Bos - France Nicola Lusuardi - Italy scriptwriter producer scriptwriter & story editor scriptwriter

After studying at the NYU film school, Jacques Roshanak Behesht Nedjad started her career in Antoine Le Bos is a French screenwriter and script Since 1990, Nicola Lusuardi has been working as a Akchoti worked in different areas of film production the film business by organising film festivals whilst consultant who has delivered over 25 feature film playwright in collaboration with several production with directors such as R. Bresson, JJ. Beineix and L. working as a freelancer for various TV programmes. scripts under contract as a writer or co-writer; companies and as a screenwriter, story editor and Von Trier. In 1999, she started the company Flying Moon with and has been a consultant on more than hundred supervisor with television networks (In treatment Helge Albers. They produce multi-award winning feature film projects. Italian version, Barabba, Il segreto di Thomas, La He then became a screenwriter and script consultant fiction features and documentaries with a strong Following a first life as a sailor, he interrupted a PhD monaca di Monza). He is a script consultant and and has led the development of numerous French focus on international co-productions. in philosophy at the Sorbonne in order to graduate supervisor for original production at Sky Italy. In and international films for cinema as well as from the CEEA in Paris (the French conservatory addition, he is a script consultant and tutor for the television that were selected for and won awards at Roshanak also works as an expert and consultant for for film writing) in 1996. After writing for TV; and Interchange workshop and teaches dramaturgy major film festivals. Recently, Jacques has worked on various institutions and training organisations such directing short films and on-stage experiments for TV series at the Centro Sperimentale di projects like A Screaming Man, Jury Prize at the 2010 as MEDIA International, EAVE for their European and in Paris and Prague; in 2002, he co-created the Cinematografia in Rome, at the new Holden in Cannes Film Festival and Grigris, official selection international programmes, TorinoFilmLab, Focal and animation series Ratz, which aired in over 20 Turin and on the SerialEyes programme in Berlin. In at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, both by Haroun the Academy of Children’s Media in Germany. countries and established the Ciné-Ecritures 2010 he wrote La Rivoluzione Seriale, Dino Audino Mahamat Saleh. workshops in Paris. Editore, Roma. He has also directed a feature film for television In 2012, she co-founded a second company with Also in 2002, he started working as a script- Nicola’s screenplays include: and written several screenplays. His script, Don’t Jan von Meppen, LudInc, which produces serious consultant for producers and for the Moulin d’Andé Look Back, directed by Marina De Van and featuring games and trans-media projects for children. (CECI, France) or European Short Pitch. As a writer In Treatment – italian edition – by Saverio Costanzo Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci was part of the Roshanak is a member of the German and European for cinema, he won the Gan Foundation Prize in Un amore e una vendetta – directed by Raffaele Official Selection of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Film Academy, an EAVE graduate (2003) and since 2005 and has worked with, among others, the Mertes 2010, also a group leader at EAVE. directors Lucile Hadzihalilovic and Atiq Rahimi. L’ultima Trincea – directed by A. Sironi Jacques has been teaching writing and directing at Since 2007, he has been the Artistic Director of Le Little Dream – directed by D. Marengo, story M. the Femis (national French film school) since 1988 Groupe Ouest, European centre for film creation Carlotto and has facilitated many international screenwriting in Britanny and co-created the Cross Channel Film Puccini – directed by G. Capitani and development workshops, including: EAVE, Lab with Great Britain. He has been a tutor for the Pantani – directed by C. Bonivento Sud Ecriture, DV8 Films, Vision Cinema, Ekran and Script & Pitch Workshops and TorinoFilmLab since Morte di un Confidente – directed by Manetti Bros., Interchange. 2007, as well as for Interchange since 2009. story M. Carlotto The Black Arrow – directed by F. Costa, based on the novel by R.L. Stevenson Casanova – Directed by G. Battiato Renzo e Lucia – directed by F. Archibugi Ultimo II – The Challenge – directed by M. Soavi

6 7 Tutors

Sabine Sidawi - Lebanon Sibylle Kurz - Germany producer pitching expert

Beirut-based producer Sabine Sidawi founded Sibylle Kurz specializes in pitching training, Orjouane Productions in 2007. It has gone on to project presentation, proposal development become one of the most renowned production and dramaturgical doctoring. She also offers companies in Lebanon today. communication skills, negotiation training and personal coaching for companies and individuals. Sabine has produced, co-produced and line produced more than 25 fiction and documentary With an academic background in media films which have been screened and awarded at & communication science, sociology and international festivals and sold around the world. psychology; she has a postgraduate education as a These include: The Ugly One by Eric Baudelaire, communication skills trainer and is a certified NLP May In the Summer by Cherien Dabis, 74: The Trainer (INLPT associational standards). She works Reconstitution of a Struggle by Rania and Raed as a Pitching Trainer and consultant for film schools Rafei, Beirut Hotel by Danielle Arbid, Carlos by Olivier and film institutions all over Europe. Assayas, We Were Communists by Maher Abi Samra Her expertise in “The Art Of Pitching“ is a result of and Everyday is a Holiday by Dima El-Horr. more than 15 years experience in the acquisition, distribution and co-production of theatrical, video A strong believer in co-productions, she has always and TV films in the German-speaking market at a supported and worked with Lebanese, Arab and distribution company that she co-founded in 1981. international directors and crew. She left the organisation in 1995 to start her own company. Sabine has been teaching film production at two major Lebanese universities since 2009 and Kurz’ intensive workshop sessions enable producers frequently participates in international conferences to hone and time-tune their projects prior to as an expert on film production in the Middle East. pitching as well as gain insight into their own professional practice. In 1995, she co-founded d-net-work, an alliance of young European producers (feature & documentary) to help find co-production and distribution partners for their projects. She is a member of the European Documentary Network and the author of two books.

8 9 ProgrammeInterchangeProgrammeIc

Book of Projects 2013 Interchange

10 11 script & intention

Inspired by our own experiences of making films in Gaza and especially the absurd difficulties we face, it comes naturally to want to tell a story about making movies against the tide and in a prohibitive Ic context.

Using humour to describe a situation the whole population is trapped in, and through an ensemble of burlesque urban vignettes that repeat and slowly evolve in the wake of life’s surreal monotony in contemporary Gaza, Casting draws a portrait of a whole society and explores the dialectics of time, place and identity. Tarzan and Arab Widening the context of Gaza to any place where someone is writers & directors struggling to produce art in the midst of social and institutional restrictions, we ask the broader question of how artists are supposed Budding filmmakers and identical to work toward the betterment of their society, when there is a twins, Tarzan and Arab hail from fundamental distrust of culture itself. Gaza. They were born in 1988, one year after the last cinemas in The script for Casting is now in the final stages of development. Our Gaza were closed. cinematographic vision, (which relies on a realist style in the spirit of European filmmakers like Jacques Tati, Emir Kusturica and Roy In 2010, Tarzan and Arab Casting Andersson) uses long scenes and slow tracking movements in order to received the A.M. Qattan writers & directors: Ahmad Abunasser (Tarzan) & Mohammed Abunasser (Arab) heighten the sense of time and reflect the protagonist’s experience of Foundation’s prestigious Young co-writer & producer: Rashid Abdelhamid reality. A range of eccentric yet archetypal characters (to be played by Artist of the Year Award for their non professional actors in order to add to the sense of spontaneity and conceptual artwork Gaza wood, Palestine / France realism) will help to transmit a universal vignette of time and place. a series of mock-Hollywood As filmmakers, we believe cinema to be, through entertainment, an posters for imaginary feature important instrument of social critique, development and awakening. films named after real Israeli This film is our attempt to highlight the value of protecting diversity military offensives on Gaza, and synopsis and individuality – in the Arab world and beyond – from political their short film Colorful Journey. attempts at imposing a unilateral lens on life. Khalil is an odd-man-out film director in the midst of a complete identity When life In 2012, Tarzan and Arab were crisis. In his war-torn hometown of Gaza in Palestine; where the balance invited to Jordan, where they between religion, tradition and culture is skewed to conservative is mysterious, met the Palestinian producer extremes; Khalil struggles through the writing of a script for a film to find Rashid Abdelhamid. Their the right path for his life. the world becomes common desire to convey an alternative vision of Palestine led Encouraged by his long-time friend and producer Hassan, he keeps a kind of fantasy to the development of a creative submitting the script to local authorities to get the necessary permits and triad and the production of their funds, but he is confronted with the growing influence of radical religious second short film, Condom movements that have taken hold of his city. Lead, under their brand new While waiting for official approval, Khalil, firmly determined, drags label: Made in Palestine Project. through location scouting and local castings, observing the town’s The film, selected in Cannes, is colourful characters going about their days. currently participating at some These absurd and comic portraits of the townsfolk present different of the world’s most prestigious aspects of his thoughts, emotions and memories and represent the film festivals and will feature in phases of his lifelong search for truth. the Muhr Arab Short section at DIFF 2013. In the end, in spite of the stubborn mentality of the local authorities and the growing pressure of the Islamic extremists, Khalil decides to organize a big casting session, which announces the beginning of the production of his feature film.

12 13 production notes production company Made in Palestine Project As a producer, my goal is to make films that convey a major international film festival in 2014. In terms Al Rasheed St. Gaza an alternative vision of Palestine and the Arab world, of feasibility enhancers going into the production Palestine showing the diversity of the region and its human stage, our fundraising capacities have recently seen Rashid Abdelhamid stories. Casting is such a film. While the story is an immense boost from the buzz being generated T 00 970 5995006 inspired by Tarzan and Arab’s experiences of making by our first short film, Condom Lead (also written and T 00 962 777006666 films in Gaza, this project has a symbolic depth directed by Tarzan and Arab), which was selected to [email protected] that allows its messages of protecting intellectual compete for the Short Film Palme D’Or at the 2013 madeinpalproj.tumblr.com diversity and freedom of expression to work on a Cannes Film Festival. The announcement has stirred universal level. This quality is key, because it is what interest amongst international (particularly European co-producer functions as the bridge in the development of greater and Arab Gulf) partners and created greater industry Incognita Films understanding between people and cultures. credibility for the company within the independent France Rashid Abdelhamid film sector. co-writer & producer Casting fits extraordinarily well with the profile and total production budget overall development strategy of the production Casting’s natural audience is an international one that 619,000 USD Rashid Abdelhamid is an architect, company. In fact the company was founded, in appreciates the independent art film genre with its designer, art curator and film current financial need producer. Of mixed Palestinian- 549,000 USD Serbian origin, he was born and raised in Algeria and received his production status education in France and Italy. He development went on to live and work in Gaza Casting from 1997 to 2008. writers & directors: Ahmad Abunasser (Tarzan) & Mohammed Abunasser (Arab) co-writer & producer: Rashid Abdelhamid In early 2013, in collaboration with twin Gazan filmmakers Tarzan Palestine / France and Arab, he founded Made in Palestine Project, an independent arts initiative to create and promote contemporary visual part, to provide a structure and a banner under character-driven stories and global perspective (think art for Palestine. He assisted with which Tarzan and Arab and I could work together of the audience for Kusturica’s Black Cat, White Cat, the production and distribution as a creative triad following our initial meeting in for example). The film will be shot in Arabic, but we of Tarzan and Arab’s 2010 the summer of 2012. Made in Palestine Project intend for its distinct cinematographic style, universal film, Colourful Journey, which was launched in February 2013 as an independent story and message, high production values; and screened in over 20 countries, initiative to create and promote contemporary film unique, colourful characters to transcend cultural including the Rotterdam and visual art with a focus on Palestine. We seek to limitations, increase global audience appeal and International Film Festival. support the creativity of emerging visual artists and expand the regional and international potential of create new opportunities for the next generation the project. Our co-producer has already contacted In 2013, he produced and acted of Arab creators. The company is committed to several major French and international sales and in the short film, Condom Lead, reaching new audiences and widening the global distribution companies and we expect to finalise an which was part of the official perspective on Palestine through a spectrum of agreement in the upcoming months. selection of the Cannes Film cultural platforms including films, exhibitions and Festival (the first time ever a publications. As an independent feature film project Palestinian short film was selected promoting strong artistic expression by young, in this category). emerging regional cultural producers, Casting is a great first feature film for the company. Abdelhamid is currently producing Made in Palestine The film is currently in the final stages of Project’s first feature film, Casting, development and fundraising and we have secured which is in the final stages of French co-production. Our co-producer, Incognita, development and funding. is a subsidiary of one of France’s leading production companies, Europacorp. This production partnership is built on our shared objective to submit the film to

14 15 script & intention

The film is set in the early eighties, in Iraq’s most difficult period. Our society suffered many wars and no Iraqi family was left unharmed by the effects of war. This period has not been dealt with in films; these Ic conflict-ridden, dark years in the country’s history, in the history of the Arab world. The Iraq-Iran war lasted 10 years and is an era that nobody likes to touch because all those involved from the Arab world and other parts of the globe gave money and support to one side or the other. Everybody had their reasons – but with no regard for the consequences and the victims.

I would like to make a film that shows the consequences of these Koutaiba Al-Janabi meaningless wars; the effects on the ordinary people, on the young writer & director soldiers, their mothers, the train drivers or the shopkeepers. Daoud’s Winter does not show the frontlines, the battles of soldiers and Koutaiba Al-Janabi was born weapons; but instead the fear, the paranoia and grief that this situation in Baghdad and went on inflicted on those trying to carry on with their lives in the country. The to study photography and film explores life and death during this period, the injustice that marred cinematography in Budapest, society and the internal conflicts. Hungary. He wrote his PhD. thesis on the aesthetics of Arab Many young people were faced with the choice of either joining cinema. Daoud’s Winter the ruling Baath party or going to battle with a very good chance of writer & director: Koutaiba Al-Janabi not coming home. My brother was one of them. I will never forget Koutaiba has directed and producer: Trent seeing my mother in her black dress standing at the door waiting for produced several short films, my brother, all day, all night, hoping that he would return from the documentaries and television Netherlands / Iraq frontline. programmes. He has won awards for his work as a This memory, the stories of friends and family come together in cinematographer and as a the main character, Daoud, a young man who is about to start his director. synopsis service. Joining the army represents an escape for him as he either has to register for military service or face the repercussions from the The first feature-length film that DAOUD, a young man in his twenties, is studying for better things in life A young soldier regime for his political views and activities and end up in the hands of he directed, Leaving Baghdad, until he is drafted into military service during the war between Iraq and the secret police. He is given the job of registering the dead coming won first prize at the 2011 Iran in the 1980s. during the Iraq- back from the frontline at a sorting station from where the bodies are Gulf Film Festival, a British distributed and returned to families. Whilst in this post, he finds his Independent Film Award in He is sent to the frontline in the desert, but because of his educational Iran War deserts friend amongst the dead. The ensuing story sees Daoud taking us on 2011 and was nominated for background, he is assigned to the morgue. Cataloguing the new arrivals a journey with his friend’s body, showing the importance of friendship the Cinema for Peace Award in of dead bodies and organising their transport, starts to break his soul until his post in order and relationships. 2012. he spots his best friend Ali lying amongst the dead and decides to desert to return home the the army base in order to return his deceased friend back to his family. He currently lives between body of his friend. London and Baghdad. It is a dangerous journey to his friend’s family home because deserters are being hunted down by the army, but he manages to survive. Upon arrival, Ali’s family warmly welcomes Daoud and he does not have the heart to break the bad news. Whilst he is hiding from the army in their home, he falls in love with the people and finds the family he never had. In the meantime, he is consumed with guilt. He does not know what to do with the dead body and the army is still hunting for deserters.

When Daoud finally finds the courage to break the news to his friend’s mother, they bring out his body and silently start to dig. They have lost a son. He has found a family.

16 17 production notes production company NFI PRODUCTIONS Founded by Trent, and later joined by Charlotte pictures of the bombing and the fighting, this is a Jacob van Lennepkade 334P Scott-Wilson, the independent film production different yet very effective path. 1053 NJ Amsterdam company NFI Productions’ ambition is to spot and Netherlands encourage new talents in order to realize personal This story is about characters we very rarely (or not T +3120 7173504 projects with an edge, while at the same time at all) see in movies, the Iraqi draftees in the eighties; M +31 624607869 maintaining broad audience appeal. NFI Productions and it is set during a period of Iraq’s history which [email protected] works with a select number of directors and writers, we still know very little about. All this coupled with typically over a long period of time. the intention of showing the effect of war on people total production budget without showing the actual battle field, is a very € 1.450.000 Our previous feature films were all nationally interesting take I would like to see in the cinemas. released, produced on quite a tight budget and current financial need Trent earned international recognition at major film Status € 1.400.000 producer festivals. For the past couple of years we have been The treatment is written with support from the developing projects on a more international level, Hubert Bals Fund and the Netherlands Film Institute. production status In 2005, Trent took over resulting in the Argentinian/Dutch/French film We are currently writing the script with guidance script development Amsterdam-based NFI Productions which is one of the most prolific production companies in the Netherlands today. Renowned for only working with a few directors and writers, typically Daoud’s Winter over a long period of time, Trent writer & director: Koutaiba Al-Janabi has produced numerous award producer: Trent winning films. His credits include: Does it Hurt by Aneta Lesnikovska Netherlands / Iraq which was nominated for a Tiger Award at the IFFR; several shorts by Jochem de Vries whose latest one, Missing, was selected for Villegas by Gonzalo Tobal that premiered in the from the Interchange workshop. We aim to be the Camera d’Or Competition in Official Selection of the Cannes Film Festival 2012. finished at the end of 2013. Cannes 2009; the feature Can Go We also need to develop our co-production setup, Through Skin by Esther Rots, that It was Koutaiba’s previous feature film, Leaving secure production partners and a sales agent. We was part of the Forum Section of Baghdad, which seduced me at first. He managed will initially look for co-producers in Iraq and the the Berlinale 2009, won several to create a cinematic atmosphere of both fear and Middle East with considerable international co- international and national awards claustrophobia and paranoiac ambiances. When I production experience and excellent networks in and was named Best Dutch Film got to know Koutaiba himself, his warm personality terms of crew, cast and sales agents. Then we will of 2009; Hunting & Sons by and his integrity made me decide to produce his seek out possible co-production partners in Europe, Sander Burger was selected at the next film; another personal story. In Daoud’s Winter especially from Germany, France or the UK as they prestigious New Directors New I feel for the main character. How many times do have schemes for co-productions with the Middle Film Festival in New York, was we try to avoid telling the truth because the truth is East and are interesting partners in regards to both shortlisted for the Maverick Award too hard to bear - even for the messenger? Koutaiba’s previous work and his future films. at the Calgary International Film The main character does not dare to tell the family We aim to set-up our co-production and financing Festival and nominated for two that their son has died. Something a universal schedule in 2014. Filming will commence in 2015. national film awards; and Villegas audience can relate to. Both the set up (structure) by Gonzalo Tobal which was part of the story and the fact that the environment is The budget is estimated to be € 1.450.000. of the Official Selection in Cannes unique makes the film appealing to worldwide The film aims to be a co-production between 2012 and is currently travelling the audiences. the Netherlands, Iraq, Middle East and a second international festival circuit. European country. What I find personally interesting is that you do not We would preferably like to shoot the film in Iraq, Trent was Dutch Producer on the have to depict the actual war in order to show the but if this does not seem possible or doable in Move in Cannes and is a member effect it has on people and their lives. Specifically in any way, we would like to shoot the entire film of the European Film Academy the case of the Iraq war where we have all seen the somewhere in Jordan. and the ACE network.

18 19 script & intention

The fact that one of us was brought up in a war torn country and the other was deprived of her homeland many years before she was even Ic born, choosing what to write about came as a natural consequence. War and conflict create intolerance; intolerance creates bigger gaps; and the gaps turn into hatred. That is exactly what happened in Lebanon towards Syrians. For some Lebanese, the status of Syrians in Lebanon was blurry, placed somewhere between the invited and the unwanted, for others they were and still are the enemy. In our story, Therese lives a series of dysfunctional relationships. By grieving over a brother who died as a casualty of war, she lost the love Sophie Boutros and compassion of her daughter. By holding a grudge deep inside co-writer & director her, she created an enemy. Today, the enemy is at her doorstep: her daughter’s suitor and his parents are Syrians and they just arrived from Sophie earned a Bachelor’s their own land of crisis. How will Therese react? How will this affect Degree in Directing for TV her relationship with her daughter? Is it time to be tolerant? Does and Film from the Académie she have more in common with her unwanted guests than she had Libanaise des Beaux-Arts (ALBA) thought she would? in Lebanon. For six years after graduating, Sophie worked in Although our film explores the complex love/hate relationship television production, starting Bound between Syrians and Lebanese by following our main character as an Assistant Director and co-writer & director: Sophie Boutros Therese and the way she deals with the complicated situation she then becoming a Director on co-writer & producer: Nadia Eliewat finds herself in; the essence of the story is the mother/daughter several TV shows at Future relationship and how after being emotionally absent for years, Therese TV in Lebanon and later on Lebanon / Jordan prioritizes her daughter, Ghada, to win her back. The genre of the film at Dubai TV, UAE. She also is comedy, because we believe that this conflict needs to be addressed worked as a freelance director in a light-hearted way. on promotional videos and TV commercials in Dubai. synopsis The project tackles a sensitive issue without fear but also without preaching. It is a story that we feel strongly about telling during this Sophie started her career as a A remote village in Lebanon: Therese, the mayor’s wife enjoys observing Her enemies critical transitional period that the Arab world is going through where filmmaker by shooting music the villagers compete to be at her service to prepare for an overnight fear of the ‘other’ is being spread between Arabs; this ‘other’ that videos for Julia Boutros’ La visit of her daughter’s suitor and his parents. She joyfully shares the just stepped once was a neighbour, a family member or a friend. The story raises B’ahlamak which was followed great news with her brother, who only exists in pictures on the walls. He questions and opens an important dialogue about social prejudice and by a series of videos for other died 20 years earlier in the Lebanese-Syrian war but is still alive in every into her house. the image of the enemy; we want to break stereotypes carved in the A-list Arab singers like Rashid corner of her life; a constant reminder of her hatred towards Syrians minds of the Lebanese in particular and the Arabs in general. And we El Majid, Abdul Majid Abdalla, whom she blames for his death. There is one little detail her daughter And yes, they want to do it in a humorous way. Nancy Ajram and Nawal and husband have failed to share with Therese: the guests are Syrian; a are staying Kuweitiye amongst others. fact she only learns when they are on her doorstep. We feel it is the right time for a story that questions the past, influences for good! the present and consequently will impact the future. Sophie is currently the For Therese, this marriage proposal will happen over her dead body. Manager of Student Affairs She declares war against the guests; planning one crazy scheme after & Communication at the another, bringing her daughter’s ex-boyfriend to the dinner table and Mohammed Bin Rashid School stealing the engagement rings. for Communication (MBRSC) at the American University in Dubai. Therese finally manages to kick out the unwanted guests and reveals secrets that damage what is left of her relationship with her daughter. Realizing that it is time to put the living before the dead, Therese goes out of her way to win back her daughter’s heart. She accepts a wedding in Damascus where the two families struggle to fit in one wedding portrait.

20 21 production notes original title Mahbas Bound is a story of yesterday, today and tomorrow. the film with Syrian and Lebanese TV stars. Sophie By following Therese, the mother, sister and wife, we Boutros, co-writer and director of the film, already production company witness the unravelling of a tangled web of emotions has an established professional relationship with Screen Project that are knitted together with the fragile threads these personalities through her earlier work in music Nadia Eliewat of a painful past and a disappointing present yet videos. We are also proud to have Lebanese music Amman-Jordan: +962 79 5621437 celebrating the dream of a brighter future. composer Ziad Boutros attached to the project. Dubai-UAE: +971 56 7249517 Ziad is famous for composing most of Julia Boutros’ [email protected] As the co-writer and producer of Bound, I believe music repertoire in addition to other famous Arab in the urgency of highlighting our similarities and singers and the musical idents for leading pan-Arab total production budget discarding our differences during this difficult phase TV stations. 500,000 USD that the Arab world is going through; and this is the Bound is primarily targeted towards the Lebanese, Nadia Eliewat essence of Bound. Syrian and Arab audiences, more specifically towards current financial need co-writer & producer women from this region aged between 25 and 55. 500,000 USD Bound is the first feature film that will be produced by The film can attract different circles of audiences Nadia is a producer and the Jordanian production company Screen Project. initially through the sensitive issue of the love/ production status screenwriter whose passion development/financing is finding new stories to tell and helping create new voices through education.

After experimenting with short Bound films from 2006 to 2010, and co-writer & director: Sophie Boutros winning her first award for co-writer & producer: Nadia Eliewat producing the Jordanian short film High Heels; Nadia produced Lebanon / Jordan her first feature film, When Monaliza Smiled. The film had its international premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival The company focuses on producing mainstream hate relationship between Syria and Lebanon and in 2012 and participated in many commercial films that are created with high artistic secondly through the comic approach chosen to other festivals around the world. value in screenwriting and production. I see the Arab tackle this subject that will help the movie reach It went on to be theatrically world as the main source of our stories as well as a wider audience. Also, the Mother/Daughter released in Jordan and Morocco. the main market. I believe that the only way to make relationship that carries the main plot of the story is a Arab cinema flourish is through opening new markets more universal angle that can touch a wider range of Bound will be produced by horizontally; starting with co-productions between audiences worldwide. Nadia’s newly established Arab countries and ending with collaborations My mission is to reach to the desired audience as production company, Screen between Arab distributors to encourage alternative soon as possible by following a concrete marketing Project, through which she aims distribution models across the Arab world. strategy that allows the film to be on different digital to develop and produce various platforms at the same time as serving the desired platforms of screen content in the Bound is in the early stages of development. We are target audiences in different territories. Arab region with a specific focus aiming at a spring 2015 production. Despite the early I believe in the importance of having a sales agent/ on fiction films for theatrical phase we are in, the project already has partners distributor at an early stage of the process in order release. attached; INHOUSE Film, a production company to further develop the marketing strategy together. based in Dubai, is an official sponsor that will provide I will start reaching out to selected organisations as As a passionate educator, Nadia is equipment for the filming. soon as the first draft of the script is in place, which is an Associate Professor of Digital The finance plan focuses on 6 different channels expected by the end of November 2013. Production and Storytelling at the between 2013 to 2014 and into early 2015 to cover Sophie and I are serious about creating a mainstream Mohammed Bin Rashid School the entire budget. The financing and marketing commercial product with a good market potential for Communication (MBRSC) at strategy is in place and its implementation is in that is based on a strong multi-layered story of today. the American University in Dubai. progress. In order to make the film more attractive And we are looking for partners who believe in the for the target audience and consequently for story, share the same producing vision and can financing partners, we are working on packaging contribute to developing it further.

22 23 script & intention

In 2007, as a student, I moved to Cairo. After searching for an apartment for a long time, I settled in a district located in the heart of the capital, close to the university where the rents were relatively low. Ic That was Imbaba: a poor and repellent quarter of Cairo, sheltering hawkers, homeless people and criminals; an area long forgotten by the government.

I discovered that most of Imbaba’s inhabitants claimed to live in one of the luxurious districts nearby, separated from Imbaba only by a pedestrian bridge built over the train tracks. Imbaba had fallen into oblivion due to the government’s negligence, which led to the spread Samir Eshra of bullying, drug trade and poverty. I avoided inviting friends over for writer & director fear of them misjudging me once they knew where I really lived. Three years ago, I read a message sent to the Al-Ahram newspaper’s Samir Eshra was born in Al weekly column, which discussed social problems of anonymous writers. Buhayrah, Egypt and studied at A woman living in Imbaba wrote that the name of the district carried a The Academy of Cinema Arts social stigma and made her a less desirable potential wife for men from And Technology in Cairo. outside Imbaba. Moreover, the district was going from bad to worse, He is an independent filmmaker compared to when her family first moved there. Her father considered whose short films have toured selling their house and to relocate in order to increase his daughter’s international festivals: Half Imbaba chances of getting married; an idea she rejected, but her father kept Blindness (Doha Film Festival, writer & director: Samir Eshra insisting. The woman was wondering what else she could do. Qatar 2011), Not Available producer: Daniela Praher (Gaza Film Festival, Palestine I remembered the feelings I had when living in Imbaba. The woman’s 2010), Utopia (Corto Del Med, Austria / Egypt case seemed complicated because her education and career made France, 2008, Baghdad Short her part of Egypt’s modern society but she still had to live in Imbaba. Feature Film Festival, Iraq 2007, To me, all this perfectly reflected Egypt’s “fake society”, which is Alexandria International Film only interested in appearance and deception instead of honesty and Festival, Egypt 2007). synopsis personal qualities as a result of the last four decades of corruption, ignorance and economic liberalization. He is currently working on Like any Egyptian woman of her age, Dina (28), eagerly awaits to get In Cairo, a documentary entitled The married. But she lives in Imbaba, a poor and rough district of Cairo This woman seemed somehow trapped to me. I asked myself if Shadow Lawyers that follows suffering from unemployment and a drugs trade. Suitors change their when you live she would be able to evolve within the society surrounding her that three young lawyers working mind once they find out where she lives. Whereas Dina, a managing insisted on a traditional concept of life. And: What kind of ideals could with different NGOs and human editor in a news agency and a PhD student, refuses to marry a man from in Imbaba, she believe in then? Would she become part of the “fake society”, or rights centers in Egypt. her neighborhood. She doesn’t find them up to her standards. would she decide to live differently than the people around her? And The project was selected for the finding a husband finally: What would this woman be willing to do to find “the right” IDFA WorldView Summer School Dina’s family and social environment start putting pressure on her to can become an husband? 2013 in Amsterdam (Editing marry. Out of desperation, she accepts the proposal of a 45 year-old Consultancy) and will be finished businessman. But the groom’s mother refuses the engagement: she ordeal. by the end of 2013. suspects Dina might have had relations with men before. Being at a loss, Dina anonymously writes to a reader’s column in a Imbaba will be Samir‘s first newspaper, describing her problems. Later on Dina gets engaged feature film as a director. to Salah, a trustable man she meets on an Islamic marriage website. Unexpectedly, Dina’s letter to the newspaper gets published and her life is turned upside down. She starts receiving marriage proposals from engineers, doctors and professors who admire her frankness.

Dina breaks off her engagement to Salah and sets up an appointment with one of the men who proposed to her – not knowing whether or not he will come to Imbaba.

24 25 production notes production company Daniela Praher Filmproduktion Daniela Praher Filmproduktion was founded in 2011 Imbaba is in the development stage. Karajangasse 4/13 in Vienna, Austria. Initially, the company developed We are seeking European and Arab funds for writing 1200 Vienna, Austria and produced documentaries and short films. the screenplay, doing research and preparing a T +43 650 3417460 Now it is turning towards producing fiction feature test shoot in Imbaba. As soon as the development [email protected] films and international co-productions. When I financing is secured, we will, besides finalising the learned that a young male Egyptian director wanted script, start with casting and preproduction. total production budget to make a feature film about marriage from a female USD 700,000 perspective, it immediately aroused my interest. For the production and post-production, we will apply to European and Arab funds. We intend to current financial need In Egypt, being a 28-year-old woman who is collaborate with European and Arab production USD 700,000 unmarried means that you have somehow been companies. We are looking for co-producers; for Daniela Praher rejected by the majority of society. Often women get example an Egyptian co-producer could be a good production status producer urged to marry young, even by their own families, combination. We expect to find the financing in in development, seeking financing sometimes in arranged marriages. The status of the Europe and the Arab world mainly through public Daniela Praher graduated in future husband is of high importance. In present-day funding and TV presales and/or TV co-productions. 2007 with a Masters degree in journalism, film sciences & audiovisual media design. She worked as a location and production manager on national and international films for Austrian Imbaba companies such as DOR Film, writer & director: Samir Eshra PRISMA Film and Lotus Film. producer: Daniela Praher In 2011, she founded her Austria / Egypt own company Daniela Praher Filmproduktion. Her aim is to produce both documentary and fiction films at an international Egypt, origin, social class and education still define Currently, the western world is paying close attention level. the opportunities concerning one’s future. to the Arab world. Therefore it is very important to work with Arab filmmakers tell their stories giving She is currently producing a The previous short fiction films by Samir Eshra reflect an insight into their present society’s situation. feature-length documentary, human diversity and themes like injustice and social Regarding distribution and sales, I see a great Young, Female, Egyptian issues. His first feature film Imbaba, is set in the poor international potential for Imbaba. (director: Alexandra Schneider) district of the same name in the middle of Cairo; Together with a sales company we want to release and a short fiction Sweat Imbaba is a melting pot of inhabitants of all ages and the feature film in Egypt and at major international (director: Iris Blauensteiner). from all walks of life. film festivals, in cinemas, via VoD and TV with a Both films will be completed by special focus on the Arab market. the end of 2013 and will then start Over the past two years I have gained an insight into their international festival tours. the complexities of Egyptian society. The film targets adults - women and men - aged 20 In March 2011 – soon after the Arab Spring events – and older, especially in Egypt but furthermore in Arab Austrian director Alexandra Schneider and I began countries and Europe who are interested in socio- working on our documentary about four young political topics and in gender aspects. Egyptian women entitled Young, Female, Egyptian. We decided not just to make another “revolution The young audience will like to see the story of an documentary”, but to portray four very different independent woman who tries to find ways to live women fighting for their ideals and dreams. within the restricitons of origin and gender; older In cooperating with Egyptian film professionals and people will focus on the generational and family production companies, I learned what it meant to issues. The impact we seek on the audience is that shoot in an Arab country. they discuss the topic of traditional marriage and All of my experiences led to the conclusion that I the perspectives of a 28 year-old woman living in want to continue working in Egypt! present-day Egypt.

26 27 script & intention

This story is inspired by loss in my own family. During the ‘56 War, my grandfather received news that his favorite son, an Egyptian army officer, had been killed in the Sinai by the Israeli army. Upon hearing Ic this, he was stricken with grief and suffered a stroke. He eventually recovered but people say he was never quite the same - the sorrow he felt was so intense it was as if he had lost a part of himself out in that desert. It was a sorrow that would also send him to an early grave at the age of 50. Because they both died so young, I never met either of these men and so it was up to my mother to tell me their tragic story. As a child I tried to picture them, I tried to imagine a love so deep between two human beings that it could turn into something tragic. I Kasem Kharsa tried to picture a man that could be destroyed by his own grief. writer & director I Dreamt of Empire is a story about a father who has lost his beloved son, but here he has the unique opportunity to do something about Kasem Kharsa is a filmmaker and it. He invents a way to travel back in time to stop his son from dying visual artist based between the in the first place. But as he journeys back and forth to alter time, his Middle East and United States. simple plan is complicated by another man, a kind of double, taking His films are inspired by his own over his present life. fragmented past and centre around memory, identity and While the film fits in the sci-fi genre, it has little to do with futuristic survivorship. His work has been I Dreamt of Empire technology and more to do with human memory, nostalgia and supported by both regional and writer & director: Kasem Kharsa identity. I find these three facets of a person most fascinating and international funding bodies and producers: Jessica Landt & Falk Nagel they inform all of my writing. It is by exploring these elements as a he is a fellow of the Sundance storyteller that I am able to resolve my own fragmented past. Here, Directors/Writers Lab and Binger Germany / Egypt / U.S.A. we have a main character that finds a fantastical way to repair his Film Labs. own past, to literally go back to his son and save him. But the price he pays for rewriting history is that he must go deeper and deeper into a SHELTER nightmare and lose hold of his own identity. Feature Film Project in synopsis development / Writer & Director Empire intentionally starts off with two natural enemies pitted against - Binger Directors & Writers Lab CAIRO, 1980. Musa is a brilliant Egyptian professor. But he cannot move An Egyptian one another and could easily become a grand political allegory. But ’11 Participant past the grief of losing his only son, Yusuf, an officer who died fighting as the story continues we learn Musa’s greatest adversary is not his - Sundance Directors & Writers the Israelis in the 1956 War. These ghosts of the past have fuelled his professor travels Israeli double, it’s himself. This film is ultimately about a man coming Lab ’10 Participant recent research into doing the impossible - finding a way to travel to terms with what he lost, a man learning to no longer be a victim of - Awarded Shasha Development in time and save his son from ever dying. He has been working on a back in time his own grief and past. Grant method to ‘leap back’ to the past, by switching places with someone else from that time. to save the son As a child, as much as I tried to picture my grandfather and his pain, PAPER DRESS he lost. he was always a blur, a shadow of a man. Writing this story has been 6min doc He succeeds and wakes up in the war, but unexpectedly, in the body a way to try to understand him and how love can lead a father to Director & Production Designer of an Israeli soldier - Ben. It is as if Musa has woken up in a nightmare. sacrifice everything, even himself. Aqaba, Jordan, 2009 While he roams the Sinai desert in Ben’s body looking for his son, Ben is taking over Musa’s life in Cairo. Each time Musa returns to the present, GREY he discovers the changes Ben has been making to his life. More and 20min drama more as Musa leaps back and forth in time, he increasingly loses grip of Director & Producer his own identity. Does he stay and reclaim his life or does he complete Amman, Jordan, 2007 his mission? SCREWDRIVER He decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and go back for Yusuf before 12min comedy it’s too late. But as he nears Yusuf’s unit, he is mistaken for an Israeli Director & Producer and killed. Moments later, Yusuf finds Ben/Musa’s body and buries him, Amman, Jordan, 2007 unaware that this man is actually his father.

28 29 production notes production company Beleza Film When I first read Empire I was immediately drawn documentary about an Australian pianist, Helfgott; Jessica Landt & Falk Nagel into the atmosphere and the conflict of our main I Am A B-Boy (French/German co-production) as Jenfelder Allee 80 character, Musa. He is a very lonely man who well as the transmedia project Tell Me Who You 22045 Hamburg / Germany cannot overcome his son’s death. He becomes a Are./yourbeat.org. Producing an international Anklamer Str. 4 hermit, neglecting his life, wife and career. I can debut feature film like Empire; as lead producer, is 10115 Berlin / Germany understand and sympathize with him, although I consequently the next step for our company. T +49 40 6688 4778 would not choose this radical way because I need www.belezafilm.de to live my life in the now. But losing a beloved one We are excited to realize Empire for its story, [email protected] is something very difficult for anyone who is left approach and potential. Our ambition is to make behind; it takes a great effort to overcome this loss. a film whose quality and depth attracts strong total production budget Yet, I can relate to Musa wanting to turn back time. international appreciation. It is aimed at an € 750.000 Jessica Landt & Falk Nagel Who has not thought about that? Who does not international art house audience, possibly attracting producers regret something? a wider audience due to the topic of time travel. current financial need The way Kasem has set this entirely personal story The main audience will be adults, concerned with € 727.000 Beleza Film, based in Hamburg within the concept of time travel is fascinating, philosophical questions about life, death, and how & Berlin (Germany), is composed production status of Jessica Landt & Falk Nagel. Next steps: work on script They produce fiction films, development, financing. documentaries and audiovisual We are looking for co-producers/ projects with a strong interest in partners from the Arab region as well personal stories and characters. I Dreamt of Empire as financiers for the project. writer & director: Kasem Kharsa Jessica Landt received her producers: Jessica Landt & Falk Nagel master’s degree from Bochum (Film and Television studies) Germany / Egypt / U.S.A. as well as graduated from the French-German Masterclass, now Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris. She has worked on the including the possibilities and challenges that arrive to deal with it. We will focus on local distributors coordination of German and with it. It is not a typical sci-fi film, but touches us and world sales early in the project development international film projects and co- on a very personal level, opening up the chance and will start contacting them once the script is productions like Béla Tarr’s The to explore “what if” and takes us onto the very ready. International festivals will be a main part of Man from London and Lisandro personal search of Musa for his own identity. Musa our strategy for the worldwide recognition of the Alonso’s Liverpool. has created a very subjective image of his son in his film. The project will be structured as a German- head, which he has preserved over the years. This is Arab project, raising German as well as Arab funds, Falk Nagel graduated from what he is trying to find, yet it is not so easy to trick television and distribution partners and possibly postgraduate film studies fate and relive the past. Things are compounded equity. We are aiming to go into production in late (director: Hark Bohm) in Hamburg further because by travelling back in time, Musa 2014, filming in real locations in Cairo and the Sinai. as well as the Masterclass. As switches places with his enemy, who actually lives We will also be researching other major Arab cities executive producer for Corazon out Musa’s life better than he did. and deserts as substitute locations. International he worked on the Turkish-German feature Takva - A The film will be produced by Beleza Film, the Furthermore we are working on a concept to create Man’s Fear of God (Turkish Oscar- company I founded with Falk Nagel in 2009 that an online world around the background stories nominee 2008 for best foreign has bases in both Hamburg and Berlin. We produce and the characters. The transmedia elements will film and nominee European fiction, documentary as well as transmedia projects. nurture the story, but also be used for marketing Discovery Award 2007). Jessica It is the personal stories and the characters that we purposes. There is a large community interested in and Falk are part of the initiative are interested in. Our previous productions include the idea of time travel which will also help to attract ‘Hamburg lives Cinema’ - www. 10 Palestinian short films (2010) and the Turkish/ a wider audience during the production process. hamburg-lebt-kino.de. German co-production Küf directed by Ali Aydin (in co-production with Motiva Film, Yeni Sinemacilar) which won the “Lion of the Future” at Venice 2012. We are currently working on a feature-length

30 31 script & intention

It was only after the bombing started in our neighborhood in Damascus that I left the house with my sister. Coming from a modern liberated society, no one outside Syria, could understand why we had Ic not done this earlier.

Damascene society was really closed even in liberal families. Women were allowed to travel, work, study and do everything but live alone. With the new wave of displacement it has become normal, for the first time, to see young Damascene women living alone and separate from their families. Many of my friends started to make decisions they would never dare to make before. It is sad that there is no more society and Soudade Kaadan its structure and priorities have changed, but something new has writer & director happened. In the middle of the chaos of war and tragedy there is always some light and some freedom. Syrian director Soudade Kaadan was born in France. She studied The media is unable to notice this change because the stories of theater criticism at the Higher armed men with religious flags are more captivating than stories of Institute of Dramatic Arts in women opening the doors to their house in war time. “Nezouh” in Syria and graduated from Saint Arabic is the displacement of souls and people; it is the displacement Joseph University Institut des of spirits and bodies in Syria. And with displacement there is definitely Etudes Scénique, Audiovisuelles Nezouh change. Nezouh tries to talk about this inevitable invasion of light in et cinématographiques (IESAV) writer & director: Soudade Kaadan the middle of this chaos. It is maybe also about the displacement of Lebanon. producer: Amira Kaadan darkness. She has directed and produced Syria documentary films for Aljazeera Documentary Channel, UNDP, UNHCR and UNICEF. Her films have screened at several venues synopsis nationally and internationally and have received international During the Syrian conflict in Damascus, a missile destroys the ceiling of A bomb falls awards such as: Martine Filippi Zeina’s house. For the first time, she sleeps under the stars when before award for discovery - 29 she was forbidden to open the windows. For the first time, she sees the on Zeina’s house, URTI Grand Prix for Author’s exterior world and notices Yazan, the neighbor’s kid. But Zeina feels guilty Documentaries - Monte Carlo about her short lived happiness when she sees her father, Mutaz, burst opening a window to TV festival and the second prize into tears. He hangs a bed sheet on every falling wall until the house in the Muhr Arab Documentary looks like a grotesque tent. a new colorful life. section at the Dubai International Film Festival. Yazan sneaks onto the roof. Behind the sheets, he whispers to her all night long. Zeina falls in love with his imaginative stories. But very soon, She is currently working on her the violence escalates. Yazan’s family decides to leave, but Mutaz refuses first feature-length fiction film. to become a refugee. Zeina’s mother manages to escape with her five daughters along with Yazan’s family, leaving Mutaz with the remains of his home.

The two families reach a school sheltering refugees. They share a room with a single window. Away from her father, Zeina feels this place is her own little oasis. But very soon after, they are forced to evacuate the school. It is then that Zeina and Yazan discover that they own nothing but the moment.

32 33 production notes production company KAF Production The originality of the film Nezouh is derived from Mazzeh, West Villas - Damascus the current events happening in Syria and it explores Syria the hidden sides of Syrian society when faced with Zarif, Beirut, Lebanon the terrors of war. Nezouh exposes the complicated T +961 76034782 social structure that is broken and shattered during [email protected] times of violence and suffering. It scratches at the www.kafproduction.com reality that no matter how traditions and culture are embedded in our unconsciousness, the chaos of total production budget war and displacement breaks down these walls and € 600.000 allows the spirit to explore new horizons. current financial need Amira Kaadan Zeina’s story, the film’s leading character, is similar to € 600.000 producer the stories of many Syrian youths who were forced out of their familial home into a different world. The production status Amira Kaadan was born in question remains whether this new world would script development Paris, France to a Syrian family. In 2010, she graduated with a Masters degree in Business Administration from the Dauphine University in Paris.

Nezouh Amira was introduced to the film writer & director: Soudade Kaadan and production business through producer: Amira Kaadan her sister, Soudade Kaadan. She started as an assistant producer Syria on the films Looking for Pink and Damascus Roof and Tales of Paradise. be considered as a disrupted location where one At end of 2011, she co-founded has no roots or would it unveil new opportunities, KAF Production and her career perhaps new experiences. Syria’s displaced younger as a producer took off. She generation are facing new decisions, forced out of is currently working on the the family traditions and barriers into a world where production of two feature films their words, thoughts and actions matter. The Day I Lost my Shadow (in pre-production) and Nezouh The project is at an early stage of development, we (Displacement) (in development). expect to have a final outline and treatment by end And two documentaries: of December 2013 and the script will be written in Obscure (in development) and 2014. Once the script writing has started and reaches Projection (in post-production). a more advanced stage; the budget will be better defined and tailored to the needs of the creative vision of the director. Accordingly, the financing plan and co-production strategy will be drawn to find partners who will believe in the values embedded within the film. The budget is currently estimated at six hundred thousand Euros.

Nezouh explores the turmoil of a teenager caught in the absurdities of war. It is a bittersweet film about adolescence with a touch of humor. Maybe a film with a smile might be the way to overcome this craziness.

34 35 script & intention

The idea for this film sprang from a real experience. I discovered that my aunt reads vivid erotica to a faithful group of blind elderly people in Ic New York. After some persuasion, I was allowed to join a session. I could never have been prepared for the impact it would have on me. Erotic expletives and filthy fantasies poured from my aunt’s lips and filled a room packed full of old blind men and women. A drab community centre was transformed into an electric atmosphere, alive with the laughter and gripped attention of everyone present. It was like watching a light being turned on in the dark. Rebecca Lloyd-Evans writer & director This scene captured issues I’d long been wanting to explore. We are more comfortable assuming that people past a certain age, and Before her life in film, Rebecca particularly those with a disability, are devoid of sexuality. All of my studied Neuropsychology. instincts and experience tell me that this is not the case. She spent the next 8 years as The idea of Colette’s character arose after moving to Lebanon in 2011. camera-woman, producer and I was moved by how common it is for an unmarried daughter to live assistant director for some of at home as an adult, sacrificing their own lives to fulfill the duty of the best names in British film, Holy Braille looking after ageing parents. I was also struck by the existence of a including Oscar-winning Jon writer & director: Rebecca Lloyd-Evans rich canon of oriental erotica, dripping in sensuality and beauty. Using Blair, BAFTA-winning Penny producer: Edward Hallett this literature will enhance the poetic impact of the film. What’s more, Woolcock, and Sundance Award Beirut’s intense colours, stunning light, varied architecture and chaotic winning Kim Longinotto. United Kingdom street-life all provide a great backdrop for a film that has blindness at its core. She worked with Penny as part of a team of two, shooting the film Strong and experienced actors will play the leading roles of Samir One Mile Away, which won the synopsis and Colette. However, the residents of the home shall be cast from Michael Powell Award for Best Lebanon’s real elderly blind. Coming from a documentary background, British Film at Edinburgh 2012. Beirut today. The discovery we have spent months researching in Beirut’s blind schools, elderly centres and at private homes in order to bring an authenticity to the Since moving to Lebanon in When Colette was 14 her Dad died and her Mum started drinking. She of pleasure by film. The film will combine the real humanity found in a powerful 2011, Rebecca has worked as protected her younger siblings from the family break-down. They grew observational documentary with the beautiful cinematic escapism a filmmaker for The Guardian, up and moved on with their lives. Colette, now in her 40s, peculiar and the most unlikely found in a piece of fiction filmmaking. BBC and The British Council as awkward, still lives at home. Feeling trapped, Colette pretends that she well as directing the half-hour has found a job and each day goes to ‘work’. In reality she spends her people, in the most A shorter, 40-page version of the film was completed in 2012. Through documentary Charlie & Janet time with the eccentric and lonely inhabitants in a faded elderly home. unlikely of places. the Interchange program we are undergoing many developments as (London Short Film Festival), the this expands into a feature-length script. At the moment, we have a short film Dinner Time (Finalist, She bonds with Samir, a retired literature professor who has gone blind. detailed treatment. Channel 4 Young Directors She reads to him from his book collection and he shares his wisdom with Competition, 2013) and the short her. Amongst his books she finds erotic tales that horrify and excite her. fiction film Half Past Time. In a bold step she reads them to the residents, re-awakening something in them and her. However, the illicit readings stir up complex emotions. And when Colette’s secret is exposed she has to leave the home.

The group manages to keep the spirit of her readings alive and a deeper solidarity is established in the home.

Samir dies with Colette by his side. He departs in peace as she chooses the right book to ease his passing. His spirit and books remain with her so she can face up to a future with renewed hope.

36 37 production notes production company Ariadne Films Old age is subject to two myths. Firstly, that the towards other forms of digital entertainment; P.O Box 167036 old people we meet are always old. Secondly, that means that there is an incresing demand for films Sassine Square - Ashrafieh old age is essentially boring. Rather than gravitating that will appeal to the 60+ demographic. A spate Beirut towards the old lady at the cocktail party, we veer of successful films that do just this (including Lebanon away from her or, worse, take pity and decide Amour, Quartet etc.), has only reinforced this trend Edward Hallett to ‘keep her company.’ In filmic terms, this is a amongst sales agents and distributors. [email protected] lost opportunity. It neglects a wealth of dramatic [email protected] possibilities that are ripe for exploration. The budget for Holy Braille is around US$ 600,000. T + 44 7873 675125 We will be seeking to form links with co-producers T + 961 70845012 I have chosen to work on Holy Braille because I in Lebanon, the Middle East and Europe over the ariadnefilms.com believe in the director’s peculiar sensibility to the coming months. As yet, neither sales agents or Edward Hallett beautiful, tragic and comic aspects of old age. She distributors have been approached. However, we co-producer producer has a passion for her subject matter that I want to aim to initiate contact once we have a full first draft Cathrine Pryser see converted into film and shared with a wider feature-length script in place and once we have T +47 91 17 36 20 Edward spent much of his audience. Moreover, the film’s premise of explicit attached further project participants (including main [email protected] 20’s immersed in the study of www.fredrikfiction.no philosophy and psychology. After completing a PhD focusing total production budget on Wittgenstein and Freud, he 600,000 USD (approximate) went on to join a London-based investment bank. Holy Braille current financial need writer & director: Rebecca Lloyd-Evans 600,000 USD He spent five years working in the producer: Edward Hallett corporate finance function at the production status bank, including a period spanning United Kingdom in development the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. He moved to Lebanon in 2011, to re-focus on writing and to explore a long-standing erotica being read to the elderly blind has a stand cast, composer etc.). Once we believe we have interest in the region. During this out quality. It forms the basis for hard hitting and a ‘saleable’ package we will approach financing period, he became involved in immediately gripping scenes but also sets in motion partners in earnest. several film projects, including a subtle, but utterly compelling narrative arc of its the Lebanon-based short own. documentary Charlie and Janet’ (London Short Film Festival). Araidne Films was set up in late 2011, largely inspired by the filmmaking potential that Lebanon He founded Ariadne Films in has to offer. Lebanon has a diverse and fascinating 2011 and now spends his time range of human stories, stunning locations and between Lebanon and London. natural light; and a pool of creative talent that is He is currently advising a major exceptionally open to collaboration. The current UK-based production company project reflects a desire to continue working within and a gap financing film fund on this inspiring environment. Of critical importance raising GBP10 million of EIS film is that the project forms genuine links with local finance. talent. Not just for reasons of execution feasibility, but also to ensure that the underlying mood, message and nuance of the film rings true to a regional audience.

On the marketing front, the Holy Braille concept falls into a sweet spot that is unlikely to go away. The combination of an ageing population in Europe and America; and a youth that is increasingly drawn

38 39 script & intention

#Fierce is my first script and it’s still in development.

The idea for the subject came when I was living in Egypt (2009- Ic 2011). Munaqqabat – women wearing a niqab or Islamic face- covering veil – are more and more present and visible in European and Islamic countries. As a European, I had to challenge Western cultural stereotypes that depict Muslim women (especially those wearing a niqab) as oppressed by a patriarchal society and religion. My imagination used a transformative approach on this discourse by inventing stories about non-conventional Muslim women (at least for Europeans). These daydreams are the sparks at the core of #Fierce. Julian McKinnon writer & director My goal is to write a mainstream chick flick action film. More specifically, a conspiracy thriller. I want the story to be entertaining Julian McKinnon (Italy/UK) is a and dynamic. I want to offer to the audience an exciting visceral screenwriter and a curator. He experience. And I want it to be a new, original experience. works between the Arab world and Europe. Our aim is to reach the largest audience possible. First of all, the movie is written for a multi-cultural audience. The flamboyant characters, He holds an MA from the the fast-paced story and the spectacular movement of bodies draw University of Naples “L’Orientale”, #Fierce (working title) on those aspects of Western pop culture that can also entertain Arab where he graduated with writer & director: Julian McKinnon audiences and, at the same time, on those elements of Middle-Eastern honours in Middle Eastern producer: Judith Lou Lévy iconography that will renew the aesthetics of the action genre for the and Islamic Studies. He Western viewer. Moreover, the story is meant to entertain different also conducted research at France / Italy / United Kingdom generations. The characters and the action are made to excite a young the American University in audience (even teenagers), while the crazy geopolitical intrigue in the Cairo, focusing on Egyptian background will attract a mature audience as well. contemporary visual arts. synopsis I want to use the visual and narrative power of the action movie to talk Besides curating the Yalla Italia about disintegration and reconstruction of sisterhood (plot), shifting Competition of the Yalla Shebab MALIKA (21), a French girl of Arab origin, needs the help of her three When your worst identities across contemporary worlds (the sisters’ subplots) and Film Festival (Italy) – an award for sisters to find and stop their evil mother, the most wanted terrorist construction of imaginaries (the Whitewater conspiracy subplot). Italian productions having a clear in the world. Ten years have passed since their mother mysteriously fear becomes your connection to or involvement disappeared and the sisters were separated and adopted by different Unlike many action movies concerning Islam, I don’t want the Muslims with North Africa and the Islamic families around the world. After a terrible attack, the sisters gather only hope. to be either victims or villains. Furthermore, I don’t want the female Middle East – he is working on together again and start the adventure. characters to be sidekicks. They are strong positive characters, capable the development of two film of reacting to injustice and to subvert stereotypes about religion and projects: #Fierce with Judith Lou They land in Lebanon, where their mother’s terrorist organisation is women. Lévy and a web series project for based. Thanks to chubby AIDA’s computer skills, strong YASMINA’s Dubai is an essential location for our story. The city is part of that Apsara Films in France. kickboxing, beautiful LATIFA’s 2.0 social abilities and tomboyish Malika’s hyper-contemporary dream that makes the rest of the world look old Both reflect his perspective courage, they locate their mother. But things are not how they seemed: and boring. Higher than New York, shinier than Las Vegas, kinkier than on screenwriting: exploring the woman is at the service of BLANCHE WEISS, the leader of Whitewater the metropolis in Blade Runner, it provides new cinematic territories to new imaginaries picturing – a worldwide private security company. The sisters get entangled in our imaginaries. entertaining films. Blanche’s evil plan: produce and broadcast the “Burqa Bombers” videos #Fierce is his first fiction feature to frighten the world and make Whitewater gain more and more control script. over Europe. The unexpected sacrifice of the girls’ mother allows the sisters to escape from Blanche.

The sisters’ final journey is to seek revenge and prevent Blanche from bombing the Shopping Festival in Dubai.

40 41 production notes production company Les Films du Bal Les Films du Bal was founded by Judith Lou Lévy Both cheeky and emancipating, our project questions 1 rue de Rocroy in 2011 to follow the work of young talents – both western preconceived notions about Muslim women 75010 Paris, France filmmakers and screenwriters. Its goals are to provide by giving them adventurous lead roles. It uses clichés T +33 6 12 43 31 75 original and funny perspectives on globalisation in order to break them in a corrosive way. [email protected] and to give young “auteurs” the possibility of using To strengthen the appealing dimension of the film, mainstream culture to offer entertainment. we want to choose French “jeunes premières” total production budget Besides the production of shorts, several feature actresses with an Arab background like Leila Bekhti, € 6.000.000 (estimated) films with an international outlook are currently in Hafsia Herzi or Sabrina Ouazani and we are currently development: Fire Next Time by Mati Diop, that working on finding an Arab director who will bring current financial need will be shot in Senegal (awarded an Open Doors nuance to the topic and give the film its legitimacy. € 60.000 for development development grant at the 2012 Locarno Film This film has to achieve its whole commercial potential. Judith Lou Lévy Festival), Before The End Of The World, written by #Fierce is aimed at offering a delightful comedy for production status producer Noé Debré and Fabien Commoy, in co-production a large and young audience, eager to see an action writing / seeking co-producers with Moonshaker (that recently produced Smart Ass movie and comedy. That is to say teenagers and young Judith Lou Lévy (France) is a film directed by Kim Chapiron) and an omnibus about adults (16+) both in Europe and in the Arab world. producer. In 2007, she graduated in political sciences and production management from the internationally competitive institution, Sciences Po Paris. After graduating, she started working #Fierce (working title) for several French producers and writer & director: Julian McKinnon directors. producer: Judith Lou Lévy She founded her own production France / Italy / United Kingdom company, Les Films du Bal, in 2011. Its ambition is to question contemporary fiction possibilities in order to produce entertaining music that will be directed by five world-renowned Considering the actual cultural consumption of this cinema, fostering the imagination directors. Julian McKinnon’s project perfectly fits in target, this film is in direct competition with action of young writers to not only our editorial perspective. comedies from the American industry. It is a great meet the demands of French, but production challenge to get the right budget to give also European and international The idea of #Fierce was born a few years ago, before the film the best production value and an efficient audiences. the Arab Spring, when Julian was researching at the communication campaign. American University in Cairo. We have been dreaming The estimated budget of the film is 6 million euros. The first projects of the company of what we saw as a renewal of iconography We would like to partner up with a bigger studio to have been supported by several concerning Arab countries. We explored this jointly consider the director. European film festivals, such as possibility, finding mystery and drama in the veil and a France would be able to provide at least 60 % of the Locarno in Switzerland. Two short possible variation of the super-hero trope that, as 80s budget but we want to involve other partners, above films, now in post-production, kids, excites us, providing the opportunity to finally all from the Arab world, whose commitment will be were funded by French public make a women-centred action movie! decisive in introducing the film to Arab audiences. institutions and co-financed by #Fierce is situated at a crossroads of both Since France remains the major funds provider in French television channels. cultural and geographical dynamics. It channels Europe, it will also be important to respect in the contemporary pop culture by referring to very narrative process a 51% French language. The rest of Besides #Fierce, Les Films du Bal modern and successful productions such as the film will be in Arabic. is also developing several feature Haywire for action and Kick-Ass for comedy, with an We are currently looking for development funds films with emerging writers and unexpected Euro-Mediterranean twist. to further develop the writing and begin the directors. development of a viral communication strategy. Beyond its entertaining aspect, #Fierce will offer The Dubai International Film Festival is the first public a hopeful alternative path to a collective future. presentation of the project. Tenderness, kinship and community: these are the values put forward in the story.

42 43 script & intention

I made 3 short films about the closest relationships in my life.

Rise and Shine: The beginning of the day…about my mother. Ic At Day’s End: The middle of the day…about my father. At Night: The end of the day…about my love.

My obsession wasn’t with making films about those people; it was more of an urge to re-incarnate my relationship with them and what they represent to me.

In At Day’s End I dealt with my relationship with my father, or, I’d rather Sherif Elbendary say: Self-assessed my attitude towards it. director I had found what I had been searching for in a story by Ibrahim Aslan: “At Day’s End”. It was part of a series of short stories published weekly Sherif Elbendary lives and works in the Al Ahram newspaper …How strange! The story even carried the in Cairo. He graduated from the name of the same part of the day!! And even stranger, the father-son Faculty of Applied Arts in 2001 relationship was exactly as my experience!! and then went on to study film directing at the High Institute of Fall 2009: Cinema in Cairo. Two Rooms and a Parlor …My first feature. director: Sherif Elbendary I am searching for it but I can’t find it…or, in better words: I don’t know He has been teaching film writer: Mohamed Salah al Azab what I really want to make. directing at the Institute since producer: Racha Najdi Ibrahim Aslan continues publishing his short story series every 2008. Between 2008 and 2009 Wednesday in Al Ahram. They are about daily life situations involving Elbendary also directed six Egypt / Lebanon Suleiman’s father and mother in their narrow space. documentaries in Mauritania and Egypt for Al Jazeera TV, produced Winter 2009: by Hot Spot Films in Dubai, as Still searching for my first feature …it seems that I have come closer to well as many TV commercials. synopsis what I want. It’s the drama of daily life….but how? His short film Rise & Shine, Ten years have passed since KHALIL SULEIMAN retired following a long After his wife’s Ibrahim Aslan publishes his short story series under the name “Two produced in 2006, was officially and mundane career. Khalil believes his life has already ended and thinks Chambers and a Living Room” selected in more than 75 film about buying a family plot in a cemetery with some of his savings. His death, Khalil realises “Shouldn’t you have called it ‘Two Rooms and a Parlor’ Mr. Ibrahim?” festivals in 33 countries and wife, IHSAN, however wants to renovate the house and change the floor He answers, after a moment of his usual silence: “No, it’s good that won 15 awards and At Day’s End to ceramics. his mundane life way, Two Chambers and a Living Room” (2008), also a short, was officially “As you like, Mr. Ibrahim” selected in more than 50 film Ihsan dies suddenly, leaving Khalil alone to deal with people he had is about to end festivals and won 14 awards. avoided for years and face fears he had not previously explored. He without him having I read them all. It wasn’t just an exquisite piece of literature, the realizes that he has never traveled outside of Cairo and decides to characters were alive and carefully studied, drifting together in their Sherif also directed the short take a plane for the first time in his life. Loneliness, on the one hand, explored all its limited space and after reading them, I had two feelings: film Curfew which formed part and making the travel arrangements on the other, forces Khalil to get First, there was something in that book that my film didn’t unleash. of the collective feature film 18 involved in his neighbor’s lives although he didn’t know any of them aspects. He decides Second, I felt there was someone in the world of literature who Days that was part of the official before except ABDEL AAL, a retired photographer diagnosed with cancer. was speaking with my voice. Aslan sees things just like I see them in selection in the Cannes Film Soon he meets AZZA, an aging former dancer; YASSER, an infertile and to make a trip to cinema. It is the daily life drama which I have always loved, which may Festival 2011, as well as several religious young man who is afraid of artificial insemination and IRENE, lack major events but are filled with emotions. It’s all about the simple other festivals. an introverted veterinarian. Khalil overcomes all the obstacles he faces Panama. details that overwhelm us when we stop and watch closely. in order to make his trip by getting closer and closer to one of his Sherif has been working on his neighbors. Finally when he is ready to travel, Yasser’s wife gives birth …To the daily life drama which I love, first feature film, Two Rooms and but the baby’s nursery is very costly. Khalil makes everyone around him …To the tiny details that make up our lives and yet we just neglect, a Parlor, since early 2010. happy and goes back to his old life that has been happily turned upside …To father-son relationships, down. I decide on my first feature film: Two Rooms and a Parlor

44 45 production notes original title Oudtein w Sala When I first visited Egypt in 2009, I experienced a invest financially in the film. Additionally we have a big city for the first time in my life. strong interest for several TV presales. production company We are currently looking for co-producers and we Film Clinic Cairo was totally new for me, although I knew plan to shoot the film in 2014. 141 (A) Corniche El Nile a lot about it from movies and literature and We are aiming for the film to be selected at ‘A list’ 9th floor, Maadi - Cairo through them I got to know places without being festivals and hope that it will be well received by Egypt there before. The city amazed me for 10 days international and local audiences. T +202 252 680 50 with the number of little details that you find in all Fax +202 252 680 14 its corners. And by the time I left, what I kept as [email protected] beautiful memories were all these little details that www.film-clinic.com formed my vision of this city. Mohamed Salah el Azab Racha Najdi A year later, I came back to live and work in Cairo. total production budget writer producer And as I got caught up in daily life, I rarely paid € 515.447 attention to those details. Mohamed Salah el Azab is the Racha Najdi is a producer in the current financial need Managing Editor of the well- fields of cinema and music. She € 263.827 known Egyptian newspaper El worked with Wika Films in Cairo Youm el Sabee. on Nadine Khan’s first feature film, production status Harag w Marag, which won the preparation He graduated from the Al-Azhar special jury award at the Dubai Two Rooms and a Parlor University in Cairo in 2004 with International Film Festival in 2012. director: Sherif Elbendary a B.A. (High Honors) from the writer: Mohamed Salah al Azab Arabic Language College. In 2011, she managed the Express producer: Racha Najdi Fund at the Arab Fund for Art He is a member of the Union and Culture, a one-year funding Egypt / Lebanon of Egyptian Writers and has program for projects inspired by published a number of books the Arab Spring. that have received awards and the admiration of the public. Najdi studied public relations The script of Two Rooms and Parlor was, for me, a Sidi Barani was the last book he and advertising at the Lebanese trip into the memories of my first visit to Cairo and published in 2010. University and in 2009 she an unveiling of my special relationship with the city obtained a Masters in Cultural and the details that makes it very special to me. His first script, Two Rooms and Management from the University The story is tailored in a way to make a very nice a Parlor, won the Sawiri’s Award of Barcelona. script that portrays the little details of a simple life. for best script. Knowing Sherif, I am sure that he is capable of From 2003 to 2007 she giving life to this story. coordinated photography, animation and documentary The film revolves around the life of a 70 year-old filmmaking workshops. man, but it is also the story of the humanistic details that take place in big cities and that we never Najdi has contributed to several manage to tackle except in literature. short films and documentaries So turning it into a movie represented a big including Mamalaket al-Nisaa’ fascination for me, to see a film that represents an (2010) and Bahia & Mahmoud approach that we rarely see in Arabic cinema is a (2009). main motivation.

We started working on the project a year ago. We have participated in the Cairo Film Connection and received a grant from the Doha Film Institute. We have cast Mahmoud AbelAziz (famous Egyptian actor) for the main role of KHALIL and this enabled us to get backing from local distributors who will

46 47 script & intention

Growing up in a Kashmiri Muslim family in America, my teenage years—and the rebellion that came with it—took on a different shape than that of my peers. If I chose to defy my parents, I wasn’t Ic just challenging two people. I was choosing to call into question a complex set of cultural, political and religious values that my ancestors had struggled and fought for. I didn’t want to surrender my heritage but I also didn’t want to blindly accept it.

The guilt, expectations and burden of reconciling my parents’ past with my present has often left me frustrated; tempted to take one side or another. So, I’ve often looked for insights from other young Musa Syeed people around the world facing the same struggles. And through my writer & director travels, nowhere in this globalized world have I felt this struggle more resonant, these forces of past and present more dramatically different, Musa Syeed’s first feature than in Yemen. After marrying into a Yemeni family and traveling the film, Valley of Saints (shot in country, I could easily see how Yemeni youth and I shared similar Kashmir), won the World Cinema hopes and challenges. Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and Special Jury In their case, the past is represented by a centuries-old system of tribal Prizes at the Mumbai and Dubai law that is alive and well. In a country where the modern government International Film Festivals. It had The Cycle is weak and unstable, keeping order often falls into the hands of theatrical releases in America, writer & director: Musa Syeed sheikhs who rule according to ancient tribal law. But tribes are also Canada, India, Australia and producers: Sara Ishaq & Nicholas Bruckman associated—not always wrongly—with violence. With Yemen’s heavily Germany. His current project, armed population, tribes are often caught in cycles of revenge killings The Cycle, has been selected Yemen / U.S.A. and a culture of brutal retaliation. It can be hard to see how these to participate in the TIFF Talent ancient tribes can survive in a modern Yemen. Lab and IFP/Lincoln Center Emerging Visions Fellowship. And yet, there are many young Yemenis who hope to weave synopsis some tribal customs—particularly the tradition of arbitration—into His first Yemen/USA co- contemporary society. Their vision in seeking a nuanced, integrated production, the short entitled Since the tribe executed his father for murder, AHMAD (18) is the outcast In Yemen, approach to reconciling past and present defies the typically all-or- The Big House, premiered at of his village in Yemen. He dreams of moving to the big city to drive a nothing demands of development. By taking this more difficult path, the Los Angeles Film Festival motorcycle taxi. When the country’s water crisis forces his family to give no matter Yemeni youth are seeking to carve out an identity that is uniquely and is currently touring the up farming, Ahmad finally decides it’s time to go. But OMAR (50s), the theirs. In a world where many are clamoring for a clash of civilizations, festival circuit. Syeed previously sheikh of the tribe, demands Ahmad stays to protect a new well, soon to how far you ride, we need alternate voices to find a way forward. co-produced and directed the be the only water source in their valley. Ahmad refuses, still bitter about documentaries Bronx Princess Omar’s ruling on his father’s fate. you can’t escape While it is fascinating to observe all this from the outside, I was struck (Official Selection, Berlinale) the tribe by how their story crystallizes my own. The journey of young Yemenis and A Son’s Sacrifice (Best Using his savings, Ahmad buys a cycle and rides to the city. But armed inspires me to continue wrestling with the traditions I inherited and the Documentary Short, Tribeca). youth from a rival tribe, angry at Omar for barring them from the well, culture I was born into, in order to strike a path that works for me, that block the road. When Ahmad tries to sneak by, their leader HAYTHAM embraces the richness of my experience as a third culture kid. Musa was a Fulbright Fellow in (20s) grabs the cycle. Desperate to get it back, Ahmad offers to help Cairo, Egypt and is a graduate them get access to the well. Haytham accepts, using Ahmad’s anger to For me, The Cycle is a reminder that this frustrating, messy, of New York University’s Film/ turn him against his own village. But when Haytham’s attacks turn deadly, complicated dialogue between past and present is ultimately about Television and Middle Eastern/ Ahmad fears he’s fallen in his father’s footsteps. something worthwhile: the future. Islamic Studies departments. He has also taught film at Williams Ahmad risks his life to stop Haytham, thereby allowing the tribes to College and the Tribeca Film negotiate well access. By averting war, Ahmad regains his family’s honor Institute. and the respect of the tribe.

Reunited with his cycle, Ahmad rides to the city, but with a new future in his hands.

48 49 production notes production companies Setara Films - Yemen Sara Ishaq: Only a few films have been made in The Cycle falls in line with the aspirations of both Sara Ishaq Yemen in the last decade and even less have been Setara Films and People’s Television by including [email protected] made with the help of local Yemeni talent. For non-professional local actors and a predominantly T +2-010-697-22292 this reason, Yemen has little to no film culture and Yemeni crew, shedding light on youth, tribalism and remains underestimated, underexplored and in turn, corruption through an endearing character-driven People’s TV, USA severely misunderstood by the outside world. With story. We both believe this will engage Yemeni and Nicholas Bruckman - U.S.A. this in mind, I set up a Yemen-based production international audiences alike in a discourse about [email protected] house – Setara Films - with the primary intention of these issues, ultimately bridging the gap between discovering, cultivating, encouraging and promoting Yemen and the rest of the world, while Yemenis total production budget the work of local talent to primarily preserve the themselves can relate to and be proud of the film as 400,000 USD social and cultural reflections of their complex well. Sara Ishaq Nick Bruckman yet ever-changing world and, secondly, to instill a current financial need producer producer tradition of film viewing and filmmaking in a country We aim to raise the finances for The Cycle through 400,000 USD so averse to film. I also hope to ensure cultural and a variety of sources. The treatment is currently in Sara Ishaq is a Yemeni-Scottish Nick Bruckman was selected for linguistic accuracy in the films I work on, to stay true consideration with two film financiers in the Middle production status director/producer who graduated the Film Independent Producers in development with an MFA in film directing Lab and given the Sloan from the University of Edinburgh Producers Award at the Sundance in 2012. In 2011, she travelled to Film Festival for his work on Valley Yemen to document the uprising of Saints. while radio-reporting and filming The Cycle for the BBC. He previously directed writer & director: Musa Syeed and produced the feature producers: Sara Ishaq & Nicholas Bruckman In 2012, she released her debut documentary La Americana, multi-award-winning short which won best documentary at Yemen / U.S.A. documentary Karama has no the New York and Los Angeles Walls which was nominated for Latino Film Festivals; and was the BAFTA New Talent 2012 & broadcast worldwide on networks One World Media 2013 awards. including Al Jazeera, National to Yemen’s regional diversity and uniqueness within East: Imagenation Abu Dhabi and the Doha Film Geographic and PBS World. the Arab world. Two years ago, I came across the Institute. We have made inroads with the project Sara is currently completing a trailer for Musa Syeed’s film Valley of Saints and was into the Yemeni diaspora community in the United feature-length documentary film In addition to independent film, instantly mesmerised by the film’s elegant narrative States and Europe and expect to raise development called The Mulberry House. Now Nicholas’ production company, style and exquisite cinematography; and the thought funds through equity from several high net worth based in Yemen, she has set up People’s Television, creates of a Yemen-based film of such stature naturally Yemeni investors and crowd-funding sources. a production company, Setara commercial content for global crossed my mind. After meeting Musa in Yemen in Additionally, we endeavor to secure grant funding Films, and is establishing a centre brands including IBM, Nissan, 2012 and learning more about his work and next idea from U.S. foundations (Cinereach, NYSCA) as well as in Sana’a for Yemeni filmmakers Philips, and Facebook. for a film in Yemen, the decision to collaborate with European institutions like Hubert Bals and the World and artists. him on The Cycle was an easy one to make. Cinema Fund. If we decide to secure a sales agent prior to the completion of the film, we may be Nick Bruckman: People’s Television is a New York- able to raise completion funds through a minimum based film and commercial production company. We guarantee or foreign pre-sales. We intend to begin focus on telling universal, international stories about pre-production in the summer of 2014 and begin the immigrant experience and underrepresented filming in Autumn 2014. cultures and communities around the world. Our first feature narrative, Valley of Saints, a love story set in Kashmir, won the World Cinema Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Jury Prize at the Dubai, Milan and Mumbai Film Festivals. It has been acquired for 2013 theatrical distribution in North America, Germany, and Australia, with deals in further territories pending.

50 51 Trainee Script Consultants

Nagham Abboud Rowan Faqih Lebanon Palestine

biography biography

Nagham Abboud is an actor and filmmaker. She has performed in Rowan Al Faqih is a researcher and filmmaker working with different forms and organised film, theatre, television and cultural events in Lebanon, of documentary and experimental video. She did her undergraduate Germany and the United Kingdom. She has worked in the casting degree at the American University of Beirut and holds a Master’s degree in department and as an assistant director on Lebanese and international urban and regional planning from UC Berkeley. feature films including Circumstance by Maryam Keshavarz, La Montagne by Ghassan Salhab, Where Do We Go Now? by Nadine Labaki and Gate Her films include Summer of 85 (2005), Security Leak (2006), H1 H2 #5 by Simon El Habre. (2010) and Offguard (2012) which have been selected and screened at various international film festivals and organisations including In 2011, Nagham wrote and directed her first short film, Behind the Oberhausen, Locarno, Visions du Reel, Docusur, Tate Modern, Jeu de Window, which was selected at film festivals around the world and won contact Paume, Macro Contemporary Art Museum, Cinema Tout Ecran, Carthage contact the “Best First Short Movie” prize at the Lebanese Film Festival 2012 and and the ArteEast Touring Program. Her installation Defying Gravity and “Audience Award” at the Arab Short Film Festival 2012. Nagham has a T 00961-70-102685 Melting Point was exhibited at Makan (2010). T +972-599-508749 degree in acting and directing from the Lebanese Institute of Fine Art. [email protected] [email protected] skype: nagham.abbou3 skype: rowanfaqih

intention intention Although films are images accompanied by sound that appear on a Growing up, I remember performing with my cousins and sisters in plays As a story editor, screen, they are first conceived as ideas on paper. Ideas, emotions, Script editing we wrote and directed. I remember waiting till my parents were asleep locations, characters, dialogue, music and action are initially expressed to watch The Sound of Music, or imitating Annie and hoping Peter Pan my role is to be in words that form a unified vision for a film before it is shot. This writing is a process that would come and make us fly. These characters became part of our process is not a solitary exercise and involves a number of people. The imaginations and fantasies. the second hand scriptwriter is the main person to consolidate an idea, to extend or trim seeks to bring out I grew up thinking of these protagonists and trying to create ones of it and modify it as the script grows. As the body of a script extends, as its my own. My addiction and passion for film increased as time went on. that is needed elements take a more definite structure, the input of others is required. the essence of Today, I am a woman trying to make a difference in our world through in order to clap. a story, starting film; creating new and meaningful images and protagonists. When reflecting on a treatment or script, I try to understand and absorb Achieving never comes alone. It comes after a long journey and with I am the supporter what a writer is trying to say, the kind of story they are telling, the tone from its most the help of people we trust, love working with and the sharing of and texture; and the general feelings and emotions that the writer hopes ideas. Scripts cannot be finalized by the scriptwriter alone; and I have and the listener. to leave the viewer with. I try to express the aspects that draw me to general and become accustomed to developing stories from the days when my the story, the gaps I see in what the writer is trying to communicate sisters, cousins and I invented plays. Details in scripts come through and what actually comes across. I try to imagine how the final script broadest form. experiences and experiences differ from one person to another. will materialize and adjust that to the changes that take place during As a story editor, I try to understand what the writer wants to say and the writing process and the feedback and input from the various players how to transform these intentions onto paper. I try to show weak points involved. and improve the strong ones; share my thoughts and enrich the script with as many details as possible. In the end it is a privilege to be one of many people who contribute to My aim is to collaborate in making films that we can be proud of and the making of a film. that future generations will watch and dream of their heroes and live their stories.

52 53 Trainee Script Consultants

Antoine Waked Lebanon

biography

Antoine Waked studied film directing at the Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts (ALBA). After graduating, he worked as a story producer and segment director on several television shows including as the Arab versions of The Biggest Loser, The X-Factor, Unanimous, Male/Female, Ton of Cash and Guesstimation.

He has directed three short films: Le Matelas (2004), Giallo (2005) and the award winning animation The Big Fall (2005) which was selected at film festivals in Paris, Lyon, Sydney, Rome, Morocco and Egypt. He has been teaching writing and directing at his former university, ALBA, since contact 2005 and also currently works as a screenwriter and script consultant with Abbout Productions. T +961 3 525 747 [email protected] skype: giallomovie intention

The passage from an idea to a completed screenplay is one of the bumpiest roads a writer has to take. There are times when you are led A screenplay to believe that you have reached your destination, more times than not, you return to your screenplay and realize that you are barely there. should transcend

The writer is often immersed in his ideas, which form the delicate its subject to contours of his own world. He arrives at a point of confusion about his subject and what he exactly wants to convey. This is when a fresh look become the is needed. essence of a pure My job as a script consultant is to guide the writer during the laborious cinematographic rewriting process. I create the distance between him and his script. I try to discern its weaknesses and strengthen its originality. I try experience. to understand what the writer wants and how the story relates to him on a personal level. This way, I am able to guide the molding of his screenplay and to offer the director the tools to create a real cinematographic experience.

54 Ic

Savina Neirotti TorinoFilmLab Director

Staff Jane Williams Director of Dubai Film Connection & Film Forum

Alan Fountain Head of Studies

Greta Fornari TorinoFilmLab Project Manager

Ayesha Chagla Associate Manager, Dubai Film Market

Trupti Ashar DFM Information and Services Supervisor

Flarvet design

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