The opening of the Screen Institute Beirut funded by IMS promises new and vast opportunities for aspiring film makers in the Arab region  

With an expected production of 24 documentary films over two years involving 50 filmmakers from at least three countries in the Arab region, the new Screen Institute Beirut prepares to give independent filmmaking in the Middle East a substantial boost. The Institute will support the production and distribution of high quality films for both national and regional audiences and promote collaboration between filmmakers in the Arab region and Denmark.

Grants for documentary filmmaking

The Institute will be filling a gap in the financing of independent documentary film production in the Arab region. Despite positive trends over the last few years, there is no strong tradition of producing independent documentary films in the Arab world. Arabic TV channels rarely procure externally produced documentaries and most national broadcasters rely almost entirely on in-house productions.

The Institute’s Film Fund initiative will allow for young documentary filmmakers to realise their stories through grants covering production costs, shooting and editing equipment and professional guidance from mentors.

Mr. Henning Camre, Chair of the Institute’s Board and Executive Director of the European Think Tank on Film and Film Policy said:

- The Screen Institute Beirut can  help provide a new platform from which young artistic talents and documentary filmmakers can comment on the world around them. We also hope the new Institute will contribute to developing an understanding of independent documentary filmmaking in the region. Our goal is to strengthen the role of documentaries and filmmaking in general in the Arab world.

The advantage of editorial independence

Independent documentary filmmaking often provides an important platform for alternative voices and views because it escapes the confinements often placed on regular news production and mainstream media by way of its editorial independence.

Albeit slow, there is a growing recognition of documentary filmmaking in the Arab region and examples of where documentary films have been given a platform. In Jordan, the Royal Film Commission introduced a slot on national TV for independent short fiction and documentary in 2008, although without screening royalties for filmmakers. In 2007 the pan-Arabic satellite channel Al Jazeera launched an all documentary channel. Al Arabiya has similarly provided more space for documentaries. However, most of the airtime is filled with documentaries from abroad.

Education key to professionalisation

The current situation of the documentary film environment in the Arab region is inherently linked to the limited educational options available within filmmaking. In Beirut, most of the training offered within university film and TV study programmes is commercially oriented towards TV production, public relations and commercials, thus not providing the necessary skills for documentary filmmaking.  

Moreover, a recent review of IMS’ Media Cooperation Programme (MCP) in the Arab region, of which the Institute is a part, identified a shortage of producer skills amongst young Arab filmmakers who would rather work as directors than cultivate any professional specialisation. The Screen Institute Beirut looks to address this.

A long-term goal of the Institute, subject to funding, is to create a Screen Academy for advanced professional training in all the core disciplines of filmmaking to be launched by the end of 2010.

- I believe that education is the road to change, Henning Camre said. Drawing on his vast experience as the founder of the Danish Film School, he adds:

- Documentary filmmaking is more than just technique. It is learning how to tell a story. For example, scriptwriters are not used in the Arab film production world and stories of regular people’s lives and challenges are rarely told.

- I believe that documentary filmmaking can have a big impact on the way in which people view themselves as well as the way the rest of the world views the Arab region.

Background:

The Screen Institute Beirut constitutes a new phase in the collaboration between documentary filmmakers in the Middle East and Denmark as part of IMS’ Twinning programme. Cooperation began in 2004 and led to the establishment of the Arab Institute of Film in Jordan between 2006-2008 which is now closed and replaced by the new Screen Institute in Beirut.

The new institute will instigate exchange visits and dialogue between Danish and Arab film professionals, but focus on developing the Arab method of filmmaking.  Read more here about IMS's activities and cooperation in the Arab region. 

Media coverage of the opening of the Screen Institute Beirut:

http://www.digitalproductionme.com/article-2058-beirut-organisation-announces-film-fund/

http://www.azad-hye.net/news/viewnews.asp?newsId=601aags10

http://www.internationalpeaceandconflict.org/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=screen+institute+beirut

http://iloubnan.info/artsandculture/actualite/id/40362

http://www.ambbeirut.um.dk/en/menu/AboutUs/News/ScreenInstituteBeirutApplicationsWillBeSubmittedUntilDecember30ToObtainProductionGrantsAndTechnicalF.htm

http://209.85.135.132/search?q=cache:OYvTJE_bUjYJ:www.maroc-doku.org/en/html/home.php+Screen+institute+beirut+on+www.maroc-doku.org&cd=1&hl=it&ct=clnk&gl=it&client=firefox-a

http://www.waseet.tv/news_details.php?id=448

https://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_opportunities/arab_documentary....