14/04/2012

The Dead Sea, capital of Mediterranean filmmaking

Med Film Factory brings together over 40 professionals at a film assembly by the Dead Sea

Grant Project Activities, Jordan

The Independent Film Assembly started today, by the Dead Sea, organised by the Med Film Factory project managed by the Jordanian Royal Film Commission as part of the Euromed Audiovisual Programme.

More than 40 film professionals have come together to discuss and pitch their projects to potential funders and commissioning editors.

Among the experts invited to the assembly are German producer Karl Baumgartner, Italian distributor based in Dubai Gianluca Chakra, Jordanian producer Nadine Toukan, Wild Bunch Benelux Distribution CEO Pim Hermeling, Dubai Film Connection Manager Lucas Rosant, Lebanese publicist Zeina Sfeir, Hubert Bals Fund Manager Iwana Chronis, and French distributor Michel Zana from Sophie Dulac distribution company.

The assembly is the third workshop organised by the Med Film Factory project.

The first workshop was held in Tunis in December 2011 for producers. During this first workshop, producers worked with experts to redefine their production strategy and re-write the script from a production point of view.

The second workshop was organised in Amman last January for film directors. The directors were able to shoot a scene of the movie with real actors, assistants, chief operators, and discuss the way the script could be improved with experienced professionals and script editors.

Between the workshops, an intense follow-up has been organised by the Royal Film Commission and its partners.

“I completely re-wrote the script,” admitted Jordanian director Suhad Khatib. “It was painful, I was too attached to the characters to be able to change or cut the scenes, but the input received from the experts helped me tremendously to finalise the script.”

“For me it was important to confront myself and the movie with international experts and understand where I was in terms of market potential”, said Lebanese producer Lara Abu Saifan, who is developing her first feature film.

For Tunisian producer Asma Chiboub, Med Film Factory is essential to connect with international co-producers.

“Toura Foura - the movie’s title - will be the first musical ever made in the region,” she said. “We need a strong European partner to produce it.”

In total, eight feature films are being developed through Med Film Factory. The projects are:

• Algiers by Night by Yanis Koussim and produced by Tewfik Rays, Algeria
• Colored Feathers by Mohammad Al Huskhi and produced by Rula Nasser, Jordan
• National Day by Firas Khoury and produced by Baher Agbariya, Palestine
• Retrieval by Dhafer L’Abidine and Majdi Smiri and produced by Riadh Ghariani, Tunisia
• Shadow of a Man by Niam Itani and produced by Lara Abu Saifan, Lebanon
• The Building by Suhad Khatib and produced by Azza Hourani, Jordan
• The Eye of the Devil by Katia Jarjoura and produced by Monika Borgmann, Lebanon
• Toura Foura by Bahri Ben Yahmed and produced by Asma Chiboub, Tunisia

A second call for candidatures is still open, the dead line being on April 22, 2012.

Initiated by the Royal Film Commission - Jordan, Sud Ecriture, Tunisia and the Huston School of Film & Digital Media, Ireland and co-financed by the Euromed Audiovisual Programme of the European Union, Med Film Factory is an annual programme in three interrelated stages: a Producers' Coaching Program, a Directors' Workshop and an Independent Film Assembly.

More videos and interviews:

• In Amman, Suhad Khatib and Azza Hourani prepare The Building
  
• Mohammad Al Huskhi and Rula Nasser explore Jordanian society in Coloured Feathers
• Bahri Ben Yahmed and Asma Chiboub dream of Tunisia’s next musical comedy