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Netflix, as it ramps up Middle East operations, has announced two initiatives to reach out to Lebanon’s film and TV community: an emergency fund providing grants to below-the-line crew facing economic hardship, and a “Made in Lebanon” package of films playing on the giant streamer.

The $500,000 relief fund set up by Netflix in collaboration with the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (Afac) will be open for applications starting next week. It will provide financial support in the form of individual grants worth $2,000 per grant, a sum that, especially given Lebanon’s current economic constraints, is worth plenty more locally than it would be in the U.S.

From Oct. 26 until Nov. 9, below-the-line crew, craftspeople, and freelancers in the Lebanese film and television industry can apply for the fund by filling out an online application form. They must provide supporting documentation including a list of the five most recent projects they worked on,...

Always attentive to Lebanon, a country friendly to France for two thousand years, we are overwhelmed by the latest tragedy that has struck the country.

We send a thought to all of these French-speaking people and more particularly for our filmmaker friends who have been coming to Vesoul for 27 years to present their films, from Dima Al Joundi (Fica documentary audience award 2007 and Fica 2020) to Joana Hadjithomas, from Elias Khlat to Mai Masri, from Milka Assaf to the immense Jocelyne Saab (Medal of La Francophonie Fica 2009), who died last year. The works of Nadine Labaki, Philippe Aractingi, Danielle Arbid, Randa Chahal Sabbag, Ghassam Salhab, Jean Chamoun, Ziad Doueri, Assad Fouladkar (Fica 2002 public fiction award), Jacques Debs, Nicolas Damuni, Emir Kreideih, … have, also, been presented at Fica Vesoul.

Dima Al-joundi MartineThèrouanne

Long live this courageous people resisting so many trials!

Martine and Jean-Marc Thèrouanne, Director and General Delegate and the whole...

Barcelona – “Saba,” the new project of Alexis Ducord (“Zombillenium”) and Benjamin Massoubre, the editor at “Zombillenium,” and “Big Bad Fox & Other Tales,” will be offered up to potential partners and buyers at Europe’s upcoming Cartoon Movie, which kicks off March 5 in Bordeaux.

A 3D CGI animated feature project, “Saba” is produced by France’s Maybemovies, whose credits include Benjamin Renner’s “Ernest & Celestine,” and budgeted at $15 million.

The story is set in Ethiopia, then Abyssinia, in 1938, after the devastating invasion of Mussolini’s Italian army. 10-year Emelyia sets out to rescue her parents, captured by the fascist forces.

A coming-of-age experience, Emelyia’s trip will take her from Danakil Desert to the shores of the Red Sea, up to the cities of Sanaa and Marib in Yemen through the territories that once belonged to the legendary kingdom of the Queen of Saba.

In a context of war as...

Mel Gibson to film special trailer for the festival; plans for Lebanese cinema focus and tributes to late Us actor John Cazale and Chris Penn.

The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has unveiled plans for its 50th ‘annivarysary’ edition, set to run July 3-11.

The jubilee edition will include a look at recent Lebanese cinema, a retrospective of late Soviet-Ukrainian director Larisa Shepitko’s work and tributes to Us actors John Cazale and Chris Penn.

Actor-director Mel Gibson will also film a special trailer for the festival, set to be shot in Los Angeles in early May. The Lethal Weapon star received the Crystal Globe for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to World Cinema at last year’s Kviff.

Gibson continues a tradition that sees the recipients of this award feature in a short trailer for the following festival. It will be written and directed by Martin Krejčí, who has collaborated with Ivan Zachariáš since the beginning of the...

Upcoming productions include Ahd Kamel’ s My Driver and I.

Former Doha Film Institute (Dfi) director of film financing Paul Miller is setting up shop in the Netherlands.

The veteran producer, who has moved to the country for family reasons, has recently launched consultancy firm Internal Affairs with Us-based producer Dan Lindau and is working on several feature projects under his Escape Pictures company banner.

“Internal Affairs is a consultancy advising clients on everything from best practices to film financing to production in the filmed entertainment as well as commercials,” said Miller, who is attending the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Jan 21-Feb 1) as a speaker on one of the industry panels as well as at the producer-focused Rotterdam Lab.

“We’re already working with a company in Qatar and are probably going to start working with some companies in the Netherlands,” added Miller, who retains good contacts in the Middle East after his Dfi stint.

“I’m going...

Memento Films International (Mfi) has picked up Philippe Aractingi’s creative documentary Heritages, which is screening in Diff’s Muhr Arab Documentary competition.

The semi-autobiographical film explores the origins of the conflicts that have forced Aractingi’s family to repeatedly flee wars in his native Lebanon. It combines directed scenes with personal video diaries, old family photos and Super-8 reels.

Paris-based Mfi previously sold Aractingi’s Under The Bombs, set against the backdrop of the 2006 Lebanon War, which won best feature and best actress (Nada Abou Farhat) at Diff 2007.

London – The Arab British Center has teamed with the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the Dubai International Film Festival (Diff), to showcase Arab cinema in the British capital. Entitled "Safar: A Journey through Popular Arab Cinema," the showcase of "classic and contemporary Arab cinematic masterpieces," runs Sept. 21 through 27. It will kick off with Philippe Aractingi's Bosta, a road musical about a Lebanese man exiled in France who returns to Beirut to revive his school dance group. The weeklong screenings aims to give U.K. audiences a glimpse into the culture, people, traditions and heritage of

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Complete Dubai fest coverage

Dubai -- The next novel from Vikas Swarup, author of "Q&A" -- on which Dubai International Film Festival closer "Slumdog Millionaire" was based -- has been optioned by British producer Paul Raphael's Starfield Prods. and BBC Films.

"Six Suspects" is "Agatha Christie meets Elmore Leonard in Delhi," Raphael said Monday at the festival, where his "Under the Bombs" won top prize in 2007.

Raphael, who has an 18-month option on the newly published novel, has begun a search for a "heavy-hitting" scriptwriter, he said.

After "Bombs" took Raphael and Lebanese director Philippe Aractingi on a world tour that saw the film earn 21 awards, Raphael partnered with the film's co-producer, Maya Hariri, to form London- and Paris-based Har Films.

Raphael, 50, said that "Under the Bombs," Lebanon's official entry for the foreign-language Oscar, opened doors for him in the Middle East and North Africa.

"It took a...

A record 67 countries have submitted films for consideration for best foreign-language film for the 81st Academy Awards, Academy president Sid Ganis said Friday. Nominations will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 22, and the awards will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 22.

The complete list of foreign-language submissions follows. For more details on some of the films, visit THR.com/foreignoscars.

Afghanistan, "Opium War," Siddiq Barmak

Albania, "The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider," Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani

Algeria, "Masquerades," Lyes Salem

Argentina, "Lion's Den," Pablo Trapero

Austria, "Revanche," Gotz Spielmann

Azerbaijan, "Fortress," Shamil Nacafzada

Bangladesh, "Aha!," Enamul Karim Nirjhar

Belgium, "Eldorado," Bouli Lanners

Bosnia and Herzegovina, "Snow," Aida Begic

Brazil, "Last Stop 174," Bruno Barreto

Bulgaria, "Zift," Javor Gardev

Canada, "The Necessities of Life," Benoit Pilon

Chile, "Tony Manero," Pablo Larrain

China, "Dream Weavers," Jun Gu

Colombia, "Dog Eat Dog," Carlos Moreno

Croatia, "No One's Son," Arsen Anton Ostojic

Czech Republic, "The Karamazovs," Petr Zelenka

Denmark,...

London -- The Middle East might be cash rich, but filmmakers looking to tap the well face huge obstacles including regional violence, censorship and practical concerns like insurance, a panel of experts said Monday.

Speaking at an industry event at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts here Monday, filmmakers bemoaned the lack of freedom of speech in territories across the region such as Lebanon, Egypt, Dubai and Iraq.

But producer-director Philippe Aractingi, whose Lebanese film "Under the Bombs" screened as part of the BAFTA four-day event, told an intimate gathering that that censorship was only one problem.

"It's not that difficult to shoot in Lebanon," Aractingi said. "But insurance companies are worried when it comes to shooting there. Our (Lebanese) way of seeing risk is totally different to the Western minds in terms of production."

Filmmaker Amin Matalqa, who shot his movie "Captain Abu Raed" in Jordan and went on to win prizes at the Dubai International Film Festival, also bemoaned the lack of support from Arab audiences at the boxoffice.

"Arab audiences don't want films from local filmmakers, they just want Hollywood blockbusters," Matalqa said. "Arab audiences don't deserve them if that's their attitude."

He cited his own experience, which saw his film secure prizes in Dubai yet failed to ignite the local boxoffice.

But despite the doom and gloom, reps from Dubai and the Royal Film Commission of Jordan still urged filmmakers to check it out.

Rfc Jordan production guru George David said that censorship laws are easing and, as long as filmmakers can prove material is necessary for the filming, "it can shoot in Jordan."

Dubai International Film Festival managing director Shivani Pandya said that her organization has "made a concerted effort to steer away from political content" when looking at attracting filmmakers to the state.

"We have tried to stay away from the political (world) and stay neutral," she said. "We have turned down a few scripts (as a result)."...

opens: In France: May 14 (Capa Cinema, Starfeld Productions, Art'Mell, Fantascope Prods.)

PARIS -- Philippe Aractingi's "Under the Bombs" ("Sous les Bombes") is an Art House movie about an unpopular war featuring actors unknown outside the Islamic world. In an ideal world it would pack them in, but its makers will probably have to make do with a sideboard-full of festival awards. The movie is set against the Israeli invasion of south Lebanon in July 2006. "Under the Bombs" could even be described as an odd-couple road movie.

Zeina (Nada Abou Ferhat), the wife of a wealthy Lebanese businesman based in Dubai, arrives in Beirut, desperate to travel to the south of the country to trace her young son. The only driver she can find is the scruffy Tony (Georges Khabbaz), who happens to be Christian.

As the pair travel through Lebanon's strikingly beautiful but tragic countryside, a bond forms between them despite Zeina's initial suspicions of Tony's motives and his resentment at her snobbish behaviour. Zeina, we learn, is estranged from her husband, and Tony has ghosts of his own, in particular an older brother who collaborated with the Israelis back in the 1980s. He has not seen his brother since.

What makes this movie utterly compelling is the knowledge that many of the war scenes were shot while the Israeli attacks were in progress. Bombs seen exploding in the near distance are real, and coffins disinterred for reburial elsewhere contain real bodies.

Only three actors are professionals. Most of the rest -- Lebanese civilians for the most part, but also foreign journalists and UN peacekeepers -- play parts they were enacting in real life days earlier. Thus, the movie has a rough-hewn, documentary feel, enhanced by the sense of urgency conveyed by both the lead actors and the filmmakers. (During the early part of the shoot, writer Michel Leviant was turning out pages of dialogue to be filmed the same day.)

Franco-Lebanese director Aractingi makes no attempt at even-handedness. The picture is an unabashed portrayal of life at the receiving end of Israeli bombs. But the director's focus is on the common humanity of his characters and there is no sense of political point-scoring. The final twist, when Zeina and Tony reach their destination, is sharp and wrenching.

Cast: Nada Abou Ferhat; Georges Khabbaz; Rawya El Chab; Bshara Atallah.

Director: Philippe Aractingi.

Screenwriters: Michel Leviant, Philippe Aractingi.

Executive Producers: Claude Chelli, Nathalie Leyendecker; Sound: Mouhab Chanesaz.

Producers: Herve Chabalier, Francois Cohen-Seat, Paul Raphael, Philippe Aractingi. Director of photography: Nidal Abdel Khalek.

Music: Rene Aubry, Lazare Boghossian.

Editor: Deena Charara.

Sales: Art'Mell.

No MPAA rating, running time 98 minutes.

• There were 983 submissions from 15 countries in this category and apart from a couple of names, I know not one of the final selections below. World Cinema Dramatic Competition"Absurdistan" (Germany), directed by Veit Helmer, written by Helmer, Zaza Buadze, Gordan Mihic and Ahmet Golbol, about a sex strike by village women that threatens a young couple's first night together."Blue Eyelids" (Mexico), directed by Ernesto Contreras, about the ramifications of a single woman's winning of a beach trip for two."Captain Abu Raed" (Jordan), directed and written by Amin Matalqa, concerning an aging airport janitor who relates tall tales to local kids who think he's a pilot."The Drummer" (Hong Kong), directed and written by Kenneth Bi, the story of a young man who matures from reckless gangster to serious grownup due to the influence of Zen drumming."Elite Squad" (Brazil), directed by Jose Padilha ("Bus 174") and written by Braulio Mantovani and Padilha,

...

PARIS -- The first 4 Screens European Festival will kick off in Paris on Sept. 27, organizers announced Wednesday.

Founded by Herve Chabalier, the new festival will celebrate film, TV, Internet and mobile phone media with three days of screenings, competitions and conferences in the French capital.

Some 45 European television programs will be screened for the first time in France at the MK2 Bibliotheque movie theater. Fatih Akin's Cannes competition entry "The Edge of Heaven" and Philippe Aractingi's harrowing portrait of war in Lebanon, "Under the Bombs", also will unspool for both professionals and the general public.

In all, 16 European telefilms will vie for seven prizes in the competition category, which is divided into categories including documentaries, investigations, reality-based fiction and docudramas. Writer-director Jorge Semprun has been tapped to lead the jury.

Gallic pay TV group Canal Plus and Apple Expo are co-organizing a Web competition to pick the best reality-based fiction posted on Canal Plus' recently revamped Web site canalplus.fr or the festival's Web site www.festival-4ecrans.eu.