Manama, October 7 (BNA): A number of artists and directors confirmed that the Arab region still lacks a real Arab market that supports filmmaking in a huge way, as happens in the West, pointing out the importance of finding solutions to establish an infrastructure that supports filmmakers and film producers.
This came during a discussion session entitled “Towards a Greater Arab Market for Cinema,” in which director Bassam Al-Thawadi, artist Maryam Zayman, artist Iyad Nassar, and director Murcos Adel spoke, under the direction of journalist Muhammad Fadel, within the third session of the Bahrain Film Festival, which is held under the slogan “We celebrate the art of filmmaking” from October 5-9.
Actress Maryam Zeman explained that population density plays an important role in the making of cinematic films, through which it revives the box office, the economy, and investors, pointing to Indian cinema, which thrives on films, due to its expanding population, as is the case in the United States of America.
She added that filmmakers in the Kingdom and the Gulf complain about the lack of infrastructure supporting the Gulf film industry, the scarcity of capital, financing, and support, and the absence of cinematic investment, wishing government and private institutions in the Gulf to join hands to make the Gulf region a fertile land and source for cinematic films.
On his part; Director Morcos Adel spoke about the absence of academic institutions that cultivate cinematic talent in most Arab countries, pointing out the importance of these institutions that create cadres of creatives and professionals and qualify them for the global film market.
He pointed out the importance of governmental and private institutional support in the cinematic field, which will contribute to the recovery of the market and improve the quality of production to comply with international cinematic requirements and standards, to be able to be present at Arab and international festivals, forums and on digital platforms, and to compete for major awards.
In a related context; Director Bassem Al-Thawadi said that the most prominent difficulties of cinema in the Gulf are “industry, art and commerce,” explaining that what Gulf cinema lacks is greater access and spread through the process of institutional support, good marketing and distribution, as well as the discovery of promising talents in the world of writing, especially since there is a writer’s crisis in the country.
The world of Gulf cinema. He stressed the importance of having government bodies that organize and promote local cinematic works abroad, as is the case now in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, pointing out that Gulf cinema needs institutional support from specialized technical bodies, to provide an integrated cinematic production process, in terms of finding new cadres.
Artist Iyad Nassar stressed the importance of Arab countries seeking to develop cinema professionally, starting from the scenario, all the way to photography, directing, production, financing and marketing, indicating the need for there to be a real interest on the basis of which strategies and legislation that contribute to advancing the cinematic sector are developed. Moreover; The festival management organized a number of accompanying workshops and seminars, such as the “The Art of Storytelling and Filmmaking” workshop, by Todd Thompson from StarsNorth.com 4, and a workshop on cinematic and television works by Sheikha Soha Al Khalifa, in addition to the “How to Submit and Succeed in Auditions” workshop. , Latab Naeem, and a symposium entitled “The Critic and Festivals” with critic Abdel Sattar Naji.
The director of the Saudi Film Festival, the poet Ahmed Al-Mulla, will also present a symposium entitled “Poetic Cinema,” and Murtada Al-Hamoud will present a symposium entitled “The Basics of Professionals - The Exposure Triangle Has No Law.” In addition, the Emirati director Nawaf Al-Janahi will present a workshop entitled “Why Do We Need Short Films?” And a workshop entitled “Protecting your rights in the film industry” presented by Faten Haddad.
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