Among the aspects of Emirati history and originality, and amid a remarkable presence, yesterday, the activities of the second session of the Al Ain Film Festival, which lasted for four days, concluded with performances, cinematic activities, seventh art makers and talents, in addition to revealing promising initiatives that serve the Emirati cinema.

The closing ceremony, which was held at Al Jahili Fort in Al-Ain, witnessed a large number of Emirati, Gulf and Arab artists and filmmakers flocking to the red carpet, including artists Ahmed Badir, Bushra, Tariq Al-Ali, Khalil Al-Rumaithi, Mansour Al-Faili, Nasser Al-Dhaheri and Saleh Karama, as well as members of the jury of festival competitions.

The ceremony witnessed the honoring of the winners of the various festival competitions, which are "The Long Gulf Falcon", in which five films competed, and "The Emirati Falcon and the Short Gulf" included 21 films, "The Residents' Movies" and witnessed the presentation of 10 films, and "The Falcon for Students", which presented 16 films In addition to announcing the winner of the creativity award for the best Emirati talent.

The festival also held its second session, which was held under the slogan "Cinema of the Future", honoring the name of the late Bahraini artist Ali Al Ghurair, for his long artistic career, and the award was received by his acting companion artist, Khalil Al Rumaithi. Each of the Emirati artists Da'an Gomaa was also honored and his son received the honor on his behalf. , Emirati actress Maryam Sultan, Egyptian actor Ahmed Bedir, and Kuwaiti actor Tariq Al-Ali.

Find answers

The workshop “How to become a filmmaker in the Emirates”, organized by Al Ain Film Festival, in cooperation with Image Nation, yesterday morning did not provide enough answers to the question that was titled, but it opened a wide field of debate among the audience about how young filmmakers got On financial and technical support to carry out their business, and how to improve the content provided by Emirati businesses.

Jihad Darwish, a member of the Imaging Nation Arab Film Studio program team, explained that he started nearly eight years ago with the feature program, and now offers seven integrated programs in filmmaking, such as the documentary, the narrative, and the script writing and developing program , And others, and gathered more than 200 participants who presented films that were shown in festivals around the world more than 400 times, and received 25 awards, that "the studio gives young cadres in the UAE citizens and residents, to develop their skills in filmmaking, and also allocates a program for high school students." .

Support

On how to benefit from the programs of the Arab Film Studio, Darwish explained that the program lasts an entire year to teach the participant the art of filmmaking, and also provides support of 5000 dollars for the implementation of a film of approximately 10 minutes, and is submitted via the website, as the participant explains the idea of ​​his movie and provides a complete picture For him, an appointment has been set for him to conduct an interview to discuss his ideas and project, and in case he gets approval, the idea will develop in cooperation with a team of professionals, and then move on to implementation.

As for the main challenges facing the participants in the programs and those in charge of them, according to Darwish, filmmakers believe that after presenting their works, they have become professional directors, and they have dreams to make long films, but the reality is that they have made a big step and still have a lot to learn, considering that continuity is also Among the prominent challenges facing them, and that the participants must be characterized by specifications, the most important of which is very seriousness.

During the workshop that was directed by director Yasser Al-Niyadi, two young filmmakers who participated in Al Ain Film Festival with films produced by the Arab Film Studio, Ahmed Al-Mulla and Laith Al-Ramahi, reviewed each other's experiences in making their films, the difficulties they faced, and the support they received .

agreement

The closing day of "Al Ain Film Festival" witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the festival and the Higher Institute for Cinema in Cairo, in the presence of the dean of the institute, Dr. Mohsen Al-Toni, the director of the festival Amer Salmin Al-Marri, the art director Hani Al-Shaibani and the director of public relations Ali Al Marzouki, which is the first agreement of its kind Signed by the institute.

Al-Marri expressed his happiness with the agreement and the welcome that he found during his visit to Cairo, and to the Higher Institute for Cinema, as he had a visit to the new building of the Institute, which is a great step for filmmakers in the region, because of its great and developed capabilities. He also praised the enthusiasm of the Egyptian Actors' Captain, Dr. Ashraf Zaki, for cooperating with the festival.

He stressed that the coming period after the signing of the agreement will witness the announcement of the beneficiaries of the initiatives emanating from the agreement, within two or three months, as well as new initiatives that benefit filmmakers in the Emirates, whether from the participants in their work in the festival, or in general.

On the possibility of the agreement being a step to open a branch of the institute in the Emirates, Al-Marri said that the festival team is concerned with providing initiatives to develop the field of filmmaking, "and we may not have the capabilities to develop these initiatives to reach advanced levels, but we open the way for officials to take these steps."

Workshops

For his part, Dr. Mohsen Al-Toni reviewed the terms and initiatives included in the agreement, the most prominent of which is the participation of specialists from the institute in the next session of the festival, to provide workshops for young talents, and these workshops can also be organized before the start of the festival, so that it has an opportunity to produce works that can be presented at the conclusion . The next session will also see a program organized by the Institute to display some films from its archive, representing graduation projects for students of different generations, and some of them are filmmakers pioneers on the scene, such as Samir Seif, Dawood Abdel-Sayed and Sandra Nashat. While the third initiative is to select two filmmakers who are nominated by the festival to attend a summer educational course at the institute, to cultivate their talent and develop their capabilities.

He pointed out that the institute celebrates this year’s 60th anniversary, as it is the first institute in the Middle East, and that the agreement represents a move because it allows it to move to students and filmmakers, to support their experiences in the film industry instead of just receiving them.

An opportunity for talent

Jihad Darwish, a member of the team of the Arab Film Studio program, which is affiliated with Imaging Nation Abu Dhabi, confirmed that the company is working on implementing artistic cinematic and television projects, and other projects related to digital content, including the Emirati-Saudi series «Legacy», which is scheduled to include More than 200 episodes, and the company also allows young talents to be present in the scenes of filming international films filmed in Abu Dhabi, such as "Star Wars" and others to obtain practical experience, or to join the company's team.

Amer Salmin Al-Marri:

"The festival will announce new initiatives in the coming period, which will benefit UAE filmmakers."