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Producing an independent film is a challenge at the best of times: Beirut-based producer Georges Schoucair has shot two tightly financed indie features and helped launch a new arthouse cinema this year against the backdrop of war.

The veteran Lebanese producer, whose credits include Memory Box and Costa Brava, Lebanon, has been at the Red Sea Film Festival this past week as a member of the in-development jury for its Red Sea Souk project market.

He arrived from Morocco’s Marrakech Film Festival, where he had been participating in its Atlas Workshops project market with Cyril Aris’ It’s A Sad And Beautiful World, where it won a €10,000 post-production prize.

Mixing social drama and romantic comedy, the film follows an unlikely couple over three decades as they fall in love against the odds and then confront the challenges of parenthood against the backdrop of conflict and crisis-ridden Beirut, amid disputes...

The Cairo International Film Festival is marking a decade of supporting Arab filmmakers with the 10th edition of its Cairo Film Connection (Cfc) funding platform.

Running from November 17- 20, Cfc is a part of the festival’s Cairo Industry Days and features 18 projects either in development or as works-in-progress from 11 Arab countries, including eight from Egypt. They were chosen from a pool of over 200 submissions by a selection committee comprising three Egyptian filmmakers: Yomna Khatab, Ahmed Refaat and Heba Habib.

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Under the leadership of Rodrigo Brum, the newly appointed director of Cfc, the programme helps...

Last month we held our annual Film Independent Forum at the DGA complex here in LA. Not only was there great networking opportunities like Industry Connect, screenings like Will & Harper and a 10th anniversary showing of The Babadook, but there were great panels where industry insiders shared their thoughts on the present and future of the art and business of independent filmmaking.

Today we’d like to share with you just some of these conversations. The topics range from the state of indie financing, to adapting stories for our climate impacted future, to taking meetings in your local laundromat. This year also had a special global emphasis, which is especially timely in an era where the next Oscar winner or streaming hit could come from anywhere and be made anywhere.

So many talented people shared their experiences navigating making movies, selling movies and sharing movies across the globe. Take...

Lebanese producer Christelle Younes was set to attend Italy’s Mia Market this week to pitch feature film project So The Lovers Could Come Out Again in the Rome event’s Co-Pro Market but has cancelled the trip.

She also abandoned a trip to Jordan last week for the Royal Film Commission’s inaugural Arab Producers Lab (Apl), a joint initiative with European producers’ org Eave on which she had been selected as one of the first six participants.

Instead, she is hunkering down in northern Lebanon, monitoring the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran-backed, armed group Hezbollah, having left her home in the Achrafieh area of East Beirut.

Basta Beirut

The upscale district has been spared the relentless Israeli bombardments that have pounded Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon and Beirut since late September, but an airstrike in the neighboring area of Basta last Thursday killed at least 22 people and wounded 117 others.

Yes, the Film Independent Forum is back, happily in person again, and with a new global twist. With so much going over the two days, we wanted to highlight some of the panels and events we missed in our last post on the Forum.

Of course, there will still be the great screenings, networking and workshops that the Forum is known for. September 27 & 28, in person at the DGA in Los Angeles. Tickets are still available.

Keynote By Hiro Murai Moderated By Daniel Kwan

What: In case you missed it, our keynote speaker this year is Hiro Murai. With a very distinct voice and visual style, Hiro Murai has established himself as one of the most innovative artists working today. In particular, Murai’s ten-year artistic collaboration with Childish Gambino produced one of the most acclaimed shows of the century, Atlanta; garnered him a Grammy Award for the music video for...

The first edition of the U.K. Next Wave Genre Lab, the initiative founded by Film Constellation, Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival and Tatino Films, has found its first projects.

Following an open call led by Myriam Sassine, Evrim Ersoy, and Edward Parodi that saw hundreds of filmmakers apply to be a part of the development lab, 12 feature film projects have been selected highlighting genre stories from around the U.K.

Meanwhile, the program has secured additional masterclasses from some of the world’s leading genre filmmakers. Mike Flanagan (“The Haunting of Hill House”), Jessica Hausner (“Little Joe”), and Tea Shop Productions have joined the roster of award-winning talent contributing to the lab alongside Patrik Andersson, Jenna Cato Bass, Verena Gräfe-Höft, Antoine Waked, Carlota Pereda, Andy Starke, Dan Martin and Frank Kruse.

The U.K. Next Wave Genre Lab is a development initiative and recipient of the BFI Creative Challenge fund,...

When the news reports on a story, it sticks to cold, hard facts; this law was struck down, this medical trial didn’t get funding, this border closed. The facts are key to know how to ground ourselves, and to know what happened. The reality is though, that these decisions are newsworthy because they have huge effects on people’s lives, and people are at the heart of the story, not facts. These three shorts look at big issues through the lens of the individual. Through the power of filmmaking, the political becomes personal, and humanity shines through. Sometimes to look at something big, you need something short.

As always, these projects were helped by Film Independent’s 501(c)3 nonprofit status to obtain institutional grants and tax-deductible donations via Fiscal Sponsorship. Learn how it works in the short video below or in this full-length Fiscal Sponsorship Q&a

Coyotes

Project...

Midsommar producer Patrik Andersson, Infinity Pool SFX artist Dan Martin and All Quiet On The Western Front sound editor/designer Frank Kruse are among the first wave of contributors to the inaugural UK Next Wave Genre Lab.

The Lab is run by UK sales firm Film Constellation, French production and consultancy company Tatino Films and development and packaging event Maskoon Fantastic Lab.

Hoard producer Andy Starke, Pelican Blood producer Verena Grafe-Hoft and Piggy filmmaker Carlota Pereda are also among the group of international contributors, mentors and tutors, with further participants to be announced soon.

The Lab will be led by...

Aflamuna Connection, formerly known as Beirut Cinema Platform, has selected 14 feature film projects to participate in its eighth edition, which will be the first edition to be held under the new name Aflamuna (Our films).

Reflecting emerging Arab filmmaker voices, the 14 projects range between fiction, docu-fiction and documentaries, and feature 11 projects in development and three in post-production. The selected projects come from Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.

Titles include Moondove, Lebanese filmmaker Karim Kassem’s docu-fiction about a female artist returning to a village outside Beirut after living abroad. Kassem’s documentary Octopus won...

Global Media Makers is proud of all of our Fellows who had an outstanding presence at this year’s Berlinale. Filmmakers arrived with projects in development, like Angolan Fellow Fradique Bastos, whose Gmm-supported project, Hold Time for Me, won the World Cinema Fund Audience Strategies Award at the Co-Production Market, and Nepali Fellow Rajan Katet, participated in the Berlinale Talents program after a successful festival run for his documentary No Winter Holidays.

After his film Goodbye Julia was selected as Sudan’s submission to the Oscars, Amjad Abu Alala served on the jury of the program’s Generation section. His Executive Producer, Lupita N’yongo, was the jury president of the festival’s main slate. Lebanese Fellow Myriam Sassine produced Diaries from Lebanon by director Myriam El Hajj, which premiered in the Panorama section.

One of the most memorable moments was on closing night in the main competition, which...

Arab distributor Mad Solutions has taken world sales on Lebanese director Myriam El-Hajj’s timely feature documentary “Diaries From Lebanon” ahead of its upcoming premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama section.

El-Hajj’s new doc features three characters from different generations who are looking for their place in Lebanon, a country “haunted by a past that continues to pollute the present,” as the doc’s synopsis puts it.

The protagonists, named Georges, Joumana and Perla Joe, have different perspectives on whether to change Lebanon’s dismal national narrative “through war, politics or revolution,” the description continues.

But as Lebanon’s ongoing mayhem prompts personal quests for meaning and survival, they are all confronted with the same basic question: “Is it possible to sustain our dream in the face of a crumbling world around us?”

El-Hajj’s previous doc “A Time to Rest” examined Lebanon’s Civil War and premiered at...

Stephen Gerard Kelly and Garry Keane’s documentary In The Shadow of Beirut has been submitted as Ireland’s entry for the 2024 Oscar International Feature Film race.

The film, which is executive produced by Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Siobhan Sinnerton of HiddenLight Productions, was selected Thursday by the Irish Film & Television Academy, which last year selected The Quiet Girl for its submission. That film, directed by Colm Bairéad, became the first Irish film to be nominated in the category.

For The Shadow of Beirut, first-time filmmaker Kelly spent five years living among the film’s four featured families in the Sabra and Shatila neighborhoods outside Beirut as it became engulfed in economic and political crisis following a 1982 massacre there. The film’s dialogue is primarily in Arabic.

Screen Ireland and Zdf/Arte financed the pic, which had its world premiere in June at the Doc Edge Festival in New...

Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Siobhan Sinnerton of HiddenLight Productions serve as EPs.

The Lebanon-set feature documentary In The Shadow Of Beirut has been selected as Ireland’s entry for best international feature film at the 2024 Oscars.

‘In The Shadow Of Beirut’: Galway Review

Stephen Gerard Kelly, who co-directs with Garry Keane (Gaza), makes his feature directorial debut. Brendan J. Byrne and Myriam Sassine produced and Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, and Siobhan Sinnerton of HiddenLight Productions served as executive producers.

In The Shadow Of Beirut is a portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the city.

The trailer has debuted for feature documentary “Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano,” which will have its world premiere in the Main Competition at Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Cyril Aris’ film centers on the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, which leaves a large part of the Lebanese capital in ruins. In the midst of the chaos, a film crew face an overwhelming decision: to continue the production of their movie or abandon it? They are torn between their firm belief in the transformative power of cinema and a deep sense of cynicism about its ability to effect change in a nation plagued by economic turmoil and societal collapse.

In a statement, Aris said: “For a region mired in political strife and economic difficulties, art has always been deemed as luxury not only by most Arab governments, but by the general population. Thus,...

The first trailer has been unveiled for documentary “In the Shadow of Beirut,” executive produced by Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Siobhan Sinnerton for HiddenLight Productions.

The film is a cinematic portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the impoverished Sabra and Shatila neighbourhoods of the city, the scene of an infamous massacre in 1982. It filmed over four years with unique access to the families within these largely restricted areas and is co-directed by Stephen Gerard Kelly, in his debut, and Garry Keane. Kelly built up his relationship with the families over a six-year period.

Lead producer is Belfast-based Cyprus Avenue Films. Production partners include Beirut’s Abbout Productions, Ireland-based Real Films (“Gaza”) and Berlin-based Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion (“The Cleaners”). Co-producers include Myriam Sassine, Christian Beetz and Alison Toomey.

The film played at New Zealand’s Doc Edge Festival where it won several awards.

Exclusive: Film Independent has set 26 filmmakers from 15 nations to participate in the 2023 edition of their Global Media Makers LA Residency, which is being held in person this month.

A mentoring initiative and cultural exchange program that connects American filmmakers and industry pros with filmmakers spread across the globe, Gmm sees Fellows participate in filmmaking tracks focused on screenwriting, directing, creative development and documentary filmmaking, where they develop their current projects alongside a team of U.S. mentors.

The program, presented by Film Independent and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, further bolsters up-and-comers by providing access to master classes, industry sessions and field trips, as well as cultural engagement and networking opportunities.

This edition of Gmm is the eighth put on since 2016, and as always, the selection process was highly competitive, attracting a diverse pool of media makers, with the countries of Angola, Libya,...

Six upcoming projects selected for development platform.

Upcoming projects from Golden Bear-winning producer Celine Loiseau and Charlotte de la Gournerie of Oscar-nominated Flee are among six titles selected for the Full Circle Lab Nouvelle-Aquitaine workshop programme.

The third edition of the lab, organised by France’s Tatino Films, will host four projects at script stage and two in the editing stage, offering support through the development phase, as well as during the post-production and promotion of their features.

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Projects include documentary La Détention by Guillaume Massart, produced by Loiseau of France’s Ts Production, who...

This year’s fall festival circuit has been everything, everywhere, all at once, it seems.

The 2022 Film Independent Forum announced that “Everything Everywhere All at Once” writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also known as Daniels, will kick off the conference with a keynote.

Opening night on October 24 will also include a screening of A24’s “The Inspection,” followed by a Q&a with director Elegance Bratton, Gamechanger’s CEO/producer Effie T. Brown, and producer Chester Algernal Gordon.

The Film Independent Forum event starts October 24 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in Los Angeles. The conference will continue with virtual sessions and panels to be enjoyed by global audiences October 25 through 27. The full program will take place over the course of four days, October 24 through 27.

The Film Independent Forum hosts independent filmmakers and content creators, with the 2022 lineup returning in a hybrid format of both in-person and virtual events.

Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut, dedicated to films in post-production from African and Arab countries, wrapped its anniversary 10th edition on Sept. 5. As fest director Alberto Barbera welcomed the audience to “the final stage of the Final Cut,” La Biennale di Venezia Prize – and cash award of € 5,000 – went to “Inshallah a Boy,” directed by Amjad Al Rasheed.

Jurors Claire Diao, Rasha Salti and Gaetano Maiorino praised it for “brilliant direction and performances, tackling a really dramatic social issue and for honoring the resilience of women in a conservative context.”

The film, a co-production between Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is overseen by Rula Nasser for The Imaginarium Films.

“We are just proud we made something that speaks to people,” she told Variety after the ceremony.

“We are still a conservative society, but this protagonist, this woman, she’s strong. She decides she needs to stand up and say:...

Hilary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions is co-producing a new feature documentary with the team behind Sundance 2019 title “Gaza.”

“In the Shadow of Beirut” is a cinematic portrait of modern-day Lebanon as seen through the eyes of four families living in the impoverished Sabra and Shatila neighbourhoods of the city, the scene of an infamous massacre in 1982.

The film will be executive produced by Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Siobhan Sinnerton for HiddenLight.

The doc is filmed over four years with unique access to the families within these largely restricted areas and co-directed by Stephen Gerard Kelly, in his debut, and Garry Keane. Kelly built up his relationship with the families over a six-year period.

The film follows its protagonists through the pandemic and the deteriorating economic crisis engulfing the country. However, the struggles of the film’s central protagonists began long before the deadly 2020 port explosion that rocked Beirut.

Cameroon’s Cyrielle Raingou has won the Kirch Foundation Award, which comes with a €5,000 cash prize, for her film project “I’m Coming for You.”

The award comes at the conclusion of the first edition of Munich Film Up!, an eight-month mentoring and residency program for film school graduates that started in November.

The program was created by the Pop Up Film Residency, in partnership with the University of Television and Film Munich (Hff München) and the Munich Film Festival.

The six filmmakers who took part in the program were:

Lana Bregar, Slovenia (Film school: Agfrt Ljubljana) with “Dark Head”

Erec Brehmer, Germany (Film school: Hff München) with “Lightness and Weight”

Anastasiya Gruba, Ukraine (Film school: Kyiv University) with “Women Suicide Season”

Loïc Hobi, Switzerland/France (Film school: Ecole de la Cité) with “Crypto Lover”

Cyrielle Raingou, Cameroon (Film school: Doc Nomads Master) with “I’m Coming for You”

Pratik Thakare,...

Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to first-time Lebanese director Mounia Akl’s timely drama “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” which launched positively last year from Venice.

“Costa Brava” provides an acerbic take on Lebanon’s waste management crisis and its turbulent political landscape and combines the country’s strife with the global climate crisis.

The darkly comic drama pairs Oscar-nominated Lebanese star and filmmaker Nadine Labaki (“Capernaum”) and Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“The Band’s Visit”) as a couple who has moved from Beirut to live idyllically in the mountains, until one day the government decides to build a garbage landfill right beside their house.

After bowing from Venice “Costa Brava” segued to the Toronto and London fests, where it won prizes.

The pic’s production team boasts about it being the first feature in the Arab region to implement green measures on set, with strict sustainability protocols about recycling, water use,...

Click here to read the full article.

Kino Lorber has picked up North American rights to Costa Brava, Lebanon, a darkly comic tale set against the current political and environmental crises in Lebanon.

Mounia Akl’s directorial debut, which premiered in Venice’s Orizzonti Extra sidebar last year, stars actress/director Nadine Labaki (Capernaum) and Saleh Bakri (The Band’s Visit). Kino Lorber is planning a theatrical release for Costa Brava, Lebanon on July 15.

Aki’s intergenerational family story focuses on the free-spirited Badri clan, who, in an effort to escape the toxic pollution and social unrest of Beirut, build a mini-utopia off the grid. But the world intervenes when the Lebanese government begins construction on a garbage landfill right outside their fence. The country’s trash and corruption is literally being brought to their doorstep. The Badris are forced to either stay true to their ideals and live outside the...

Film Independent today announced the names of the 30 filmmakers, from 11 nations, selected to participate in its 2022 Global Media Makers LA Residency, taking place in person this month.

The filmmakers and projects chosen are Sumon Delwar (My Cousin), Ali El Arabi and Ahmed El Zoghby (The Legend of Zeinab and Noah), Prantik Basu (Dengue), Archana Borhade and Mangesh Joshi (Purjey (Parts)), Sriram Raja and Deyali Mukherjee (New Sweetness), Kushal Batunge (They Call Her Mafia), Gaby Zarazir and Michael Zarazir, Lamia Chraibi and Hicham Lasri (Meskoun), Anup Poudel and Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Rajan Kathet and Sunir Pandey (No Winter Holidays), Fizza Ali Meerza and Nabeel Qureshi (There Was a Boy), Suzannah Mirghani (Cotton Queen), Amjad Abu Alala and Mohamed Kordofani (Goodbye Julia), Lotfi Achour and Anissa Daoud (Red Path), Rashid Abdelhamid and Ismahane Lahmar (A Respectable Family), Sezen Kayhan and Beste Yamalıoğlu (Women with...

’Costa, Brava Lebanon’, ’El Gran Movimiento’, ’Prayers For The Stolen’ and ’Les Enfants Terribles’ have been widely lauded.

Of the 175 feature projects to have been showcased at Qumra between 2015 and 2021, 83 have been released to date, many with high-profile premieres at festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, IDFA and Hot Docs.

Screen turns the spotlight on four Qumra titles that launched at festivals in 2021.

Costa Brava, Lebanon

The debut feature of Lebanese director Mounia Akl debuted in Venice’s Horizons Extra sidebar and went on to play in the Contemporary World Cinema section. Nadine Labaki and Saleh Bakri play former political...

Lebanese director Mounia Akl’s long-gestating first feature, “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” which screens in Venice Horizons, is about her relationship with Beirut and Lebanon “and the complexity of this love/hate relationship that is becoming more and more complicated as our country is falling apart,” she says.

The country’s complications came literally crashing into the pic’s production when Beirut, on Aug. 4, 2020, was devastated by one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded. It left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands homeless. It also took place during a “Costa Brava” pre-production meeting.

“Our cinematographer [Joe Saade] almost lost his eye, the office was completely destroyed and we walked out knowing that our whole city was destroyed,” she recounts.

Two months later, the “Costa Brava” team decided to go ahead and shoot despite the blast, and also despite the pandemic and Lebanon’s economic collapse, which had depreciated the value of their funding.

Participant is teaming up with leading French sales agent MK2 Films and Endeavor Content to represent worldwide distribution rights on “Costa Brava, Lebanon,” the anticipated feature debut of Lebanese filmmaker Mounia Akl.

“Costa Brava, Lebanon” will be headlined by Lebanese star and filmmaker Nadine Labaki (“Capernaum”), alongside Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri (“The Band’s Visit”). The pair will play a couple who decide to leave the toxic pollution of their home city of Beirut, hoping to build a utopian existence in a pristine home in the mountains. This dream life is shattered when a landfill is built right outside its fence, bringing the garbage and corruption they hoped to leave behind to its door. As the trash rises, so do the tensions in their perfect home.

Akl, an alumni of Cannes’ Cinefondation, previously directed the critically-acclaimed short film “Submarine” in 2015. The student short was nominated for a BAFTA and played at Toronto and SXSW,...

The Pop Up Film Residency, a mentorship program founded by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras and Slovak producer Juraj Krasnohorsky, will be the exclusive and creative partner of Munich Film Up!, a new initiative by Munich’s University of Film and Television in partnership with the Munich Intl. Festival of Film Schools and the Munich Film Festival.

The eight-month mentoring program and residency will support six promising young filmmakers from around the world as they make the transition from film school into the industry. The inaugural lab will kick off this November at the 40th anniversary of the Munich Intl. Festival of Film Schools and will wrap at the Munich Film Festival in June 2022.

Co-Director Elena Diesbach, head of international at the University of Film and Television (Hff Munich), described the new initiative as a “cultural incubator” that will help the esteemed film school strengthen ties with the city...

The U.K.’s Sheffield Doc/Fest has announced 55 projects for pitching forum MeetMarket and 22 projects for the Arts Talent Market.

The events run in parallel June 9-11 as part of the wider festival, which runs June 4-13. The MeetMarket will see projects presented to industry partners and consisting of a mix of emerging talent and experienced filmmakers. The emerging talents include Agustina Comedi, Cassie Quarless, Cyril Aris, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, Tom Fassaert and Usayd Younis. There are also several seasoned players, such as Andre Singer (“Meeting Gorbachev”), Andreas Voit (“Leipzig in The Fall”), Diane Quon (“Minding the Gap”), Göran Hugo Olsson (“The Black Power Mixtape”), Kellen Quinn (“Time”), Riel Roch-Decter (“All Light”), Sean Mcallister (“A Syrian Love Story”) and Sierra Pettengill (“The Reagan Show”)

The Arts Talent Market will connect 22 creatives and teams with industry representatives. The work is an almost equal split between immersive VR/Ar, and video art or installation pieces,...

The 55 projects selected for the pitching forum have been revealed.

Documentary projects about corruption in football, black representation in the arts and the explosion in Beirut are among those selected for Sheffield Doc/Fest’s 2021 pitching forum MeetMarket.

The UK documentary market will take place virtually, as it did last year as a result of the pandemic, and will run from June 9-11. The public-facing festival will include physical screenings but the market has gone online-only due to travel restrictions for the mainly international delegates.

A total of 55 projects were selected from more than 570 applications and includes productions from 31 countries,...

The production has recently signed Nadine Labaki and Saleh Bakri to lead roles.

Paris-based mk2 films have boarded sales on Lebanese director Mounia Akl’s dark comedy Costa Brava Lebanon about a family whose seemingly idyllic lifestyle in the mountains is threatened by the construction of a landfill site on their doorstep.

The company is launching sales at the AFM.

The production has recently signed Lebanese filmmaker and actress Nadine Labaki to co-star opposite Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, who is best known internationally for his performances in The Band’s Visit and Wajib.

The pair play a couple who remove...

Exclusive: Film Independent has unveiled their keynotes, conversations and panelists for the 15th annual Film Independent Forum. The Forum, which is traditionally a weekend event, will now be a week-long virtual event that will reach all corners of the globe from July 31 to August 7.

The event has set a roster of banner names in the industry, featuring a U.S. Filmmaker Keynote with Lulu Wang (The Farewell); a U.S. Executive Keynote with Elissa Federoff, President of Distribution at Neon; a Documentary Keynote with Dawn Porter; and a Global Executive Keynote with Ashok Amritraj, Chairman and CEO of Hyde Park Entertainment Group. Traditionally a weekend event, the Forum has expanded to a full week-long event accessible online to global audiences the week of July 31 to August 7.

In addition, panels will cover financing, production and distribution of films to digital content across diverse platforms...

Six countries feature across this year’s Sørfond fund projects.

The Norwegian Film Institute has awarded Nok 3m to six international co-productions with Norwegian minority producers.

The six projects were chosen from 45 applications to the Sørfond fund, which exists to support film production in developing countries where it is limited for political or economic reasons.

They were selected by a jury composed of editor and Norwegian Film School professor Sophie Hesselberg; producer and director Sebastián Peña Escobar; and Films From The South Festival project manager Per Eirik Gilsvik.

The jury held its discussions remotely, with Hesselberg and Gilsvik joining from Oslo,...

Tribeca Film Institute announced on Thursday the 43 projects that will participate in this year’s Tfi Network film market, to be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A traditional Tfi Network three-day event would see emerging filmmakers and creators from across the globe coming together in New York City to embark on a day of pitch prep and industry roundtables, along with two days of individual meetings with professionals during the Tribeca Film Festival, which has also moved some of its programming online. This year, Tfi Network, presented by AT&T, will move online from April 27 through May 1. Prior to Tfi Network, filmmakers will attend “Prep Week” from April 21 through April 23, which includes online pitch training sessions with mentors. This year’s 43 winners include scripted projects, documentaries and interactive projects.

“Tfi remains dedicated to creating opportunities for independent artists without compromising their health or safety,” Tribeca Film Institute executive director...

“We finished the shoot for Ely Dagher’s Harvest just as the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Lebanon.”

Beirut-based producer Georges Schoucair is the founder and CEO of top Middle East independent film production house Abbout Productions and its more recently created sister company Schortcut Films.

The recent credits of Abbout Productions include Oualid Mouaness’s coming-of-age drama 1982, which was Lebanon’s submission to the Academy Awards’ best international film category this year; Ahmad Ghossein’s All This Victory, which premiered in Venice Critics’ Week; and Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam’s feature-length documentary Amal.

Schortcut Films, which he...

“We finished the shoot for Ely Dagher’s film Harvest just as the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Lebanon.”

Beirut-based producer Georges Schoucair is the founder and CEO of top Middle East independent film production house Abbout Productions and its more recently created sister company Schortcut Films.

The recent credits of Abbout Productions include Oualid Mouaness’s bittersweet coming-of-age drama 1982, which premiered at Toronto and was Lebanon’s submission to the Academy Awards’ best international film category this year; Ahmad Ghossein’s All This Victory, which premiered in Venice Critics’ Week, winning three awards, and Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam’s feature-length documentary Amal.

Twice Academy Award-nominated writer-director Hany Abu-Assad is teaming with Abbout Productions, Lebanon’s top indie shingle, on TV series project “The King’s Wives.”

The six-episode fiction, pitched Feb. 25 at the 2020 Berlinale Co-Pro Series, is set to be the first TV drama produced by Abbout, a Beirut-set production house run by Georges Schoucair, best known to date for films with a distinctly Arab voice.

Scheduled to shoot from fall 2021 in Morocco or Turkey, “The King’s Wives” is conceived as a multicultural project, with Palestinian-Dutch Abu-Assad as co-creator and showrunner, production by a Lebanese team, with a cast coming from all over the Arab world and international heads of departments.

A TV drama with humorous elements, set in a modern unnamed Arab monarchy, “The King’s Wives” follows Zein, a revolutionary princess who wants to challenge the monarchy and improve women’s rights.

She aligns with her progressive husband, Prince Malik,...

Film Independent has announced the seven producers who been chosen for its 19th annual Producing Lab. The fellows will participate in a program set up to help develop their skills and further their careers by pairing them with film professionals who can advise on both the craft and business of independent producing.

Among the 2019 participants are include Camila Zavala, who also won the $30,000 Sloan Producers Grant to further develop her film, Malpelo, and Lebanese filmmaker Myriam Sassine, who is the recipient of the Global Media Makers Fellowship, an exchange program sponsored through a partnership between Film Independent, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational, and Cultural Affairs.

This year’s industry advisors include Lauren Craniotes (Gersh), Greta Fuentes (MacRo), Lauren Mann (Swiss Army Man), Valerie Stadler (Big Swing Productions) and Solome Williams (Bron Studios). In addition, mentors and guest speakers in the program include Rebecca Green (It...

Just as Netflix tries to gain traction in the Middle East by backing local genre series, such as its first Arab original, “Jinn,” from Jordan, and Egypt’s upcoming “Paranormal,” Beirut’s Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival is launching the region’s first platform dedicated to genre films.

Five Arabic-language projects, ranging from a zombie comedy to a supernatural female-empowerment drama, have been selected for the Maskoon Fantastic Lab’s pilot edition, which is set for Nov. 7-8 in Beirut’s Lebanese Academy of Fine Arts. All the projects have a strong sociopolitical subtext, organizers say.

“Arab producers and film festivals haven’t really embraced genre cinema yet,” said Myriam Sassine, the fest’s chief exec. “So we felt the need for a platform to encourage and help those filmmakers who would like to venture into genre”

The fest’s artistic director, Antoine Waked, underlined that, at a time when genre...

“All This Victory,” a tense war drama directed by Lebanon’s Ahmad Ghossein and set in 2006 in his country during the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, is the big winner at the Venice Critics’ Week section dedicated to first works.

The film is about a young man named Marwan who during a ceasefire goes in search of his father who refused to leave his Southern village, while his wife Rana is preparing papers for their immigration to Canada. Marwan however finds no traces of his father, the ceasefire is quickly broken and the situation spiral out of control after he is forced to shelter in the home of Najib, his father’s friend, and some of Najib’s friends. As bombs hail down, tensions within the house rise; and then a group of Israeli soldiers enter the building.

“Victory,” which is produced by Georges Schoucair and Myriam Sassine of Beirut-based...

Oualid Mouaness’ drama joins Sophie Deraspe’s Contemporary World Cinema entry Antigone on Tiff slate.

Anick Poirier and Lorne Price’s new sales agency WaZabi Films has announced its first acquisition, picking up the majority of worldwide rights to Lebanon-set 1982 starring Nadine Labaki ahead of its world premiere in Tiff Discovery next month.

Oualid Mouaness’ feature debut takes place against the backdrop of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and is set at a private school on the outskirts of Beirut, as 11-year-old Wissam tries to tell a classmate he loves her.

Meanwhile his teachers – on different sides of the political spectrum...

Cannes–The Pop Up Film Residency, a mentorship program launched this year by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras and Slovak producer Juraj Krasnohorsky, has announced three new residents, four new hosts, and two new creative partners for 2019.

Based in Bratislava, the program offers a three-week residency in Slovakia each month, along with a series of international residencies throughout the year with a growing network of partners, including Cannes Critics’ Week, Eave and the Doha Film Institute.

“The big difference between this residency and other support schemes for talents is that it’s really tailor-made,” said Darras. “Once we really get an understanding of the person, the project, we actually find the good residency.”

A former Cannes Critics’ Week programmer, Darras described the Pop Up Film Residency as a “passion project” designed to offer mentorship on an intimate scale. “I have 20 years of experience running labs, where I usually have programs with 20, 25 projects,...

Mohamed Siam, Emre Akay and Myriam El Hajj will be among the filmmakers heading to Turkey.

Mohamed Siam, Emre Akay and Myriam El Hajj will be among the filmmakers heading to Turkey for the 14th edition of the Meetings on the Bridge project meeting, running April 11-12 within the framework of the 38th Istanbul Film Festival (April 5-16).

Egyptian documentarian Mohamed Siam, whose last feature Amal opened the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) in 2017, will present his first fiction feature project, Blood And Honey (Carnaval).

Siam describes it as comedy mixing ingredients from Amal – which followed a young female revolutionary...

“All This Victory,” a drama set in 2006 in Lebanon during the war between Hezbollah and Israel, has won the Eastern Promises Works in Progress Award at the Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival. The competition is devoted to projects from Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, former Soviet Union countries, and, for the first time this year, the Middle East.

In director Ahmad Ghossein’s film, a coproduction between Lebanon, France and Germany, Marwan goes in search of his father, who has refused to leave his village. He finds no traces of him and when the ceasefire ends suddenly, he is forced to shelter in the home of Najib, his father’s friend, and some of Najib’s friends. As bombs hail down, tensions within the house rise; then a group of Israeli soldiers enter the building.

The jury was comprised of Matthijs Wouter Knol, director of the Berlinale’s European Film Market,...

The festival has also unveiled its international juries.

Tim Robbins will receive the Crystal Globe for outstanding contribution to world cinema at the 53rd edition of Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

The actor, director, producer and screenwriter will also present two of his films at the festival – Bob Roberts (1992) and Cradle Will Rock (1999), both of which take in the crossover of politics and music in the United States.

Robbins will also give a concert at the festival, as part of his group Tim Robbins and The Rogues Gallery Band.

Kviff has also announced the international juries for this year’s event.

The Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the leading movie event in Central and Eastern Europe, will honor Tim Robbins with its award for outstanding contribution to world cinema, the fest announced Tuesday, and the actor will screen two pics he directed and wrote, the acerbic polemic “Bob Roberts” and the tribute to pre-wwii music and politics “Cradle Will Rock.”

Robbins, who also wrote music for several of his films, including “Bob Roberts” with brother David, will perform with The Rogues Gallery Band. Terry Gilliam will also roll into the Czech Republic spa town for the fest, running June 29 to July 7, to screen “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” his disaster-prone take on the Cervantes classic that took 18 years to complete and premiered in Cannes.

Anna Paquin will also be feted, screening the family grief road movie “The Parting Glass” along with the film’s director, her husband Stephen Moyer, screenwriter and...

Cristian Mungiu has already been announced as one of this year’s guest directors.

The TorinoFilmLab (Tfl) has announced the ten new projects selected for the 2018 FeatureLab.

Coming from Europe, Latin America and Asia these projects will be developed for six months at a workshop held in Sardinia with the help of the already announced tutors, headed by Romanian director Cristian Mungiu.

Six of the ten films have female directors.

Focusing on first and second feature films, the Tfl FeatureLab selects projects at an advanced stage of production and helps a team of directors, scriptwriters and producers get their ideas on screen.

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

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

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

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

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

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