On December 10th, during the Dubai Film Festival, it was confirmed an Arab Film Institute will be created to promote Arab films.
The project was launched by Lebanese producer Paul Badoudjian, who explained the idea had been germinating “for 10 months”. The aim is for the new Institute (AFI) to be both a platform where Arab film professionals can share knowledge and ideas and also a centre for training programmes. In 2018 the AFI will also set up the Arab Film Awards, with a major award ceremony, modelled on the Oscars, to showcase the best of Arab film production. The Institute will be funded through membership fees and sponsorship.
Among those involved in the AFI’s launch are a host of international directors such as the Moroccan Nabil Ayouch, the Iraqi Maysoon Pachachi, the Palestinian Rashid Masharawi and the Qataria Hafiz Ali Ali. There are also producers, for example the Algerian Salem Brahimi, the Tunisian Dora Bouchoucha, the Kuwaiti Al Zain Al Sabah and Egyptian Mohamed Hefzy. George David of the Jordan Royal Film Commission and Antoine Khalife of the Dubai Film Festival are also giving the Institute their support.
Asked whether the proposed Institute would be able to represent the extreme diversity of the territories that make up the Arab world, Salem Brahimi replied: “Take Eurimages. Its members speak 24 different languages, and they manage to make it work. It will not flow of its own accord, we will learn little by little and probably make mistakes, but even these mistakes will be better than what is being done now.”
Sources : Screen Daily, Gulf News, Asharq Al Awsat
