As we publish this year's selection of 16 supported projects under our Documentary Film program, we recognize the courage and passion of these filmmakers who push boundaries in their quest to document the realities of our region.
From crafting a cinematic counter-memory of Palestinian history in Germany to an account of grief, loss and Syrian collective memory, from an intimate portrait of an Iraqi migrant woman striving to live on her own terms in post-punk Europe to a hybrid film mixing fiction and documentary to shed light on five moments of uprising across historical eras of the Lebanese city of Tripoli, the 16 documentary film projects strive to inform, educate, document and move their audiences.
The Documentary Film jurors — Tunisian teacher and cinema researcher Azza Chaabouni, Egyptian filmmaker and writer Mohammad Shawky Hassan and Moroccan film producer Karim Aitouna — convened in July to deliberate over the applications and make a final selection. At the close of the jury meeting, the jurors issued the following jury statement:
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“The jury was impressed with the diversity of cinematic languages and the depth of research and artistic treatment within the submitted projects. The vast majority of submissions tackled political and social realities, often from the filmmakers' personal perspectives that extend beyond the self to engage with the family, communities, and spaces they inhabit. We also noticed the continuing interest in engaging with the archive, not only as a collection of documents but rather as a hegemonic instrument of historiography and a site of negotiation and resistance.
It was interesting to see that many of the submissions were first feature-length projects, predominantly by women filmmakers, which signals the persistence of the documentary as an important form of storytelling. We were particularly excited by the number, diversity and quality of projects coming from Palestine, which resulted in the selection of 6 Palestinian projects that strongly stood out with their urgency, depth and innovative approach.
It was a disappointing observation that most of the projects submitted target a non-Arabic-speaking audience. It was, however, not surprising to us as it reflects the prevalent structures of film funding and distribution, as well as the lack of infrastructure needed for films to circulate in their home countries and within the region.
Within these challenging circumstances, we acknowledge the difficult task Arab filmmakers and producers face in the journey of funding their projects and salute their passion and persistence. There were admittedly many more projects worth funding than the resources in place. It is unfortunate that the rise in the amount of creative film proposals is not met with adequate financial support. We sincerely hope this will change in the near future.”
The projects selected by the jurors
- Looking For Bacchus, Ali Essafi, Morocco | Development
- Speak Image, Speak, Pary El-Qalqili, Palestine | Development
- The Black Goat, Ziad Al-Qattan & Lobna Alsana, Palestine | Development
- My Grandparents' Window Overlooks a Cemetery, Lamis Almohamad, Syria | Development
- June 1982: A Massacre, Rabie Mustapha, Palestine | Development
- Nadjma, Reman Khudhur, Iraq | Development
- My Mother & I, Dilpak Majeed, Iraq | Production
- Looking for Spiderman, Nadia Ghanem, Egypt | Production
- Seeds of Soul, Farah Abou Kharroub, Palestine | Production
- The Collector, Marwah Jbara Tibi, Palestine | Production
- Dry Sky...Don't Rain, Ibrahim Omar, Sudan | Production
- Another Day Shall Come, Aida Kaadan, Palestine | Production
- The Day of Wrath: Tales from Tripoli, Rania Rafei, Lebanon | Post-production
- Cinema Kawakeb, Mahmoud Massad, Jordan | Post-production
- The Colour of our Time, Haydar Helo, Iraq | Post-production
- Anonymous*