Head of the documentary department at the National Film School of Denmark, Arne Bro and head teacher, Mette-Ann Schleppern. Photo: Rasmus Steen/IMS.

Public screening of five films produced in the Arab world by film students of the National Film School of Denmark in cooperation with IMS and Arab filmmakers

On Thursday 12 June, five students at the National Film School of Denmark presented their latest works to a larger audience at a screening in the cinema of the film school, which is located in Copenhagen.

All films were shot in different locations in the Arab world thus presenting a Danish view on various walks of Arab life. Hence, a school for deaf children, life of a single mother in Damascus, a boy in Cairo aspiring to become a circus artiste as well as a portrait of a traditional Egyptian cafe were among the subjects of the films that were presented to a mainly Danish audience at the screening.

The films are the result of a collaboration between the documentary department of the National Film School of Denmark and IMS, who co-funded and facilitated contact between the Danish film students and Arab filmmakers and institutes as part of an exchange programme for Danish and Arab filmmakers under the twinning project of IMS Media Cooperation Programme with the Arab world and Iran. The project took off in 2006, when six Danish film students filmed in the Arab world with support from IMS and its Arab network.

Filming in an unknown environment

Challenging the students with having to produce a film in a new and totally unknown environment forms an important part of the objective of this project in order to develop the students' own sense of documentary film production. At the screening it became apparent that this had indeed been a challenging experience for many of the students:

- I went to Cairo with short notice and spent a long time searching for my story. I finally decided to simply begin filming in a traditional cafe in Cairo, and to see what happened. This is what came out of it, said Andreas Koefoed presenting his film "A day in the smoke".

Arne Bro, head of the documentary department of the National Film School of Denmark, confirms that this is a challenging and potentially rewarding experience for young film talents:

- Filming in unknown territory calls the students to find new ways of expressing themselves, and this helps develop their own, individual film language, he says.

Pleased with the outcome, Arne Bro would welcome the opportunity to continue the exchange program in collaboration with IMS.

The film of Lebanese filmmaker Serena Abi Aad: "Life under construction" was also presented at the screening thus cementing the concept behind the project, that the exchange program is to benefit both Danish and Arab filmmakers. Her film was filmed in Lebanon in January and edited during April and May at the National Film School of Denmark (see separate article).

The Danish films were as follows:

"Silence in a noisy world", by Katrine Philip

"Manar and the children in the house with a hole in the roof", by Malina Terkelsen

"A day in the smoke", by Andreas Koefoed

"Above the ground, beneath the sky", by Simon Lereng Wilmont

"As time went by", by Kristoffer Kiørboe

The films may be viewed in the cinema room at IMS upon request to Rasmus Steen, programme officer at IMS.