11-year old Mahmoud portrayed in the documentary film "Above the ground, beneath the sky" by Simon Lereng Wilmont.

Five documentary films produced in the Arab world by Danish film students have generated great international attention. The films that were supported by IMS were chosen for 14 film festivals altogether, one of the films winning two prices

When five students at the Danish Film School were presented with the idea of making documentary films in the Arab world last year, they reacted on the idea of filming in a far and foreign culture with both excitement and scepticism.

Now, one year after, the worries and efforts of the students pay off. With their five films represented at 14 film festivals altogether, the films have reached an international audience from Helsinki to Teheran and from Paris to Buenos Aires. In addition to their screenings at festivals in Europe, the Middle East and South America, one of the films was awarded with to prices.

The five films that have been shot in Syria and Egypt came in to being in collaboration between the National Film School of Denmark and IMS, who co-funded and facilitated contact between the students and Arab filmmakers and institutes as part of the twinning project of IMS Media Cooperation Programme with the Arab world and Iran.

Festivals crucial to the life of films

The film 'Above the ground, beneath the sky' by Simon Lereng Wilmont won two prices, one of them at the prestigious French documentary festival 'Cinéma du réel' in Paris.

The film which takes place in Cairo is following 11-year-old Mahmoud who is training for his first day in circus as an acrobat with his strict trainer and co-acrobat Kamal, who is joggling with the shy, skinny boy on his feet in the thrilling training sessions.

Simon Lereng Wilmont is excited about his achievements and points to the importance of festivals for film makers.

-  The film gets a life in itself when it is represented at a festival. Especially if you win a price people will show you a lot of attention and the film will reach a broader audience, Simon Lereng Wilmont says to IMS.

Another student, Katrine Philip, whose film 'Silence in a noisy world' about a Coptic school for deaf children in Cairo was chosen for seven festivals stresses that being represented at festivals is a purpose of film making in itself.

- It is important to me that the film is being screened in other countries, in this way becoming a sort of meeting between cultures. It is inspiring to experience that the film generates different debates according to what country it is being screened in. The debate in Finland for instance may take a completely different form than the debate in Brasil, Katrine Philip says.

Challenge to work in a foreign country

Working and filming in a foreign country was a challenge to the five students. One of the biggest challenges was the language challenge, Simon Lereng Wilmont says.

- We had to focus on the things we could understand without using language. You realize that you understand a lot even without a language. That was very fascinating to experience, Simon Lereng Wilmont said.

For the two students the cultural difference also materialized in the initial process, when they tried to get agreements with the persons they intended to film.

Simon Lereng Wilmont experienced that the Egyptians were unfamiliar with the genre of documentary and therefore had a hard time explaining to the participants that they should not act like actors, and Katrine Philip had to persuade the Coptic school she wanted to film in for two weeks before she was accepted.

Students eager to work in the Middle East again

Both Katrine Philip and Simon Lereng Wilmont were fond of working in Cairo. The hospitality and openness of the Egyptians they got acquainted with in the city were overwhelming, they say.

Katrine Philip, who had never been to Egypt or other Middle Eastern countries before, was sceptical before going.

- I was very sceptical of the idea of making films in the Middle East, worrying about whether it was safe to work there as a film maker. But the trip changed my mind completely. I liked living and working there, and I am definitely going to make films in that part of the world again, Katrine Philip said.

In her opinion the value of the Middle East film project can not be underestimated.

- The project has been the biggest challenge for me at the Film School. It is indeed one of the most important projects at the school, also because travelling and working in foreign countries is going to be a big part of our future professional lives.

The two students are very keen on making films in the Middle East again after their experiences in Cairo. For the time being they are deeply engaged in working on their graduation movies, but the Middle East is definitely a part of their future plans.

These documentary films were produced in the cooperation project with IMS:

'Above the ground, beneath the sky', by Simon Lereng Wilmont
'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 Kofoed
'As time went by', Kristoffer Kiørboe

The films may be wieved at IMS upon request to Rasmus Steen, programme officer at IMS.

Festivals where the films were screened:

Katrine Philip:
Visions Du Réel, Documentary Film Festival, Nyon, Schweitz: http://www.visionsdureel.ch/
Viscult Short Film Festival, Finland: http://www.pkey.fi/viscult/e_index.htm  
Reykjavik Short Film Festival, Island: http://www.kisi.is/2008/6/2/reykjavik-short-film-festival-2
Teheran International Short Film Festival, Iran: http://www.shortfilmfest.ir/index-en.htm
Curta Cinema International Short Film Festival, Rio De Janeiro, Brasilien: http://www.shortfilmcentral.com/event/148/8
International Film Festival on Human Rights DerHumALC, Buenos Aires, Argentina: http://www.derhumalc.org.ar/festival/about_en.html
11th RAI International Festival of Ethnographic Film, Leeds, England: http://raifilmfest.org.uk/film/festival/2009/home

Simon Lereng Wilmont:
Caravan Film Festival, Cairo, Egypten: http://www.cinemacaravan.com/
Dox Box Film Festival, Damaskus, Syrien: http://stillinmotion.typepad.com/still_in_motion/2009/03/dox-box-09-dama...
Cinéma du réel, Paris, Frankrig: http://www.cinereel.org/
Vienna Film Academy Film Festival, Wien, Østrig: http://www.filmfestivalwien.com/2009/en/index.html

Andreas Kofoed:
International Documentary Film Festival, Amsterdam: http://www.idfa.nl/

Kristoffer Kiørboe:
Dox Box Film Festival, Damaskus, Syrien: http://stillinmotion.typepad.com/still_in_motion/2009/03/dox-box-09-dama...

Malina Terkelsen:
Nordisk Panorama, Island: http://www.nordiskpanorama.com/WELCOME%20to%20Nordisk%20Panorama-100/