Red Sea panel discusses crew crunch in Mena.
Arabic countries cannot rely on servicing international productions alone to develop below the line talent, but must also look to local content to tackle shortages of skilled crew across the region.
Speaking on a panel at the Red Sea Film Festival titled ’A Region Full of Opportunities’, Rula Nasser, founder and producer at Jordanian production company The Imaginarium Films, stressed the importance of local productions in training up talent in the region who can then work in senior roles on both homegrown projects and international features.
“We are the one who can...
Arabic countries cannot rely on servicing international productions alone to develop below the line talent, but must also look to local content to tackle shortages of skilled crew across the region.
Speaking on a panel at the Red Sea Film Festival titled ’A Region Full of Opportunities’, Rula Nasser, founder and producer at Jordanian production company The Imaginarium Films, stressed the importance of local productions in training up talent in the region who can then work in senior roles on both homegrown projects and international features.
“We are the one who can...
- 12/4/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
London -- The Middle East might be cash rich, but filmmakers looking to tap the well face huge obstacles including regional violence, censorship and practical concerns like insurance, a panel of experts said Monday.
Speaking at an industry event at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts here Monday, filmmakers bemoaned the lack of freedom of speech in territories across the region such as Lebanon, Egypt, Dubai and Iraq.
But producer-director Philippe Aractingi, whose Lebanese film "Under the Bombs" screened as part of the BAFTA four-day event, told an intimate gathering that that censorship was only one problem.
"It's not that difficult to shoot in Lebanon," Aractingi said. "But insurance companies are worried when it comes to shooting there. Our (Lebanese) way of seeing risk is totally different to the Western minds in terms of production."
Filmmaker Amin Matalqa, who shot his movie "Captain Abu Raed" in Jordan and went on to win prizes at the Dubai International Film Festival, also bemoaned the lack of support from Arab audiences at the boxoffice.
"Arab audiences don't want films from local filmmakers, they just want Hollywood blockbusters," Matalqa said. "Arab audiences don't deserve them if that's their attitude."
He cited his own experience, which saw his film secure prizes in Dubai yet failed to ignite the local boxoffice.
But despite the doom and gloom, reps from Dubai and the Royal Film Commission of Jordan still urged filmmakers to check it out.
Rfc Jordan production guru George David said that censorship laws are easing and, as long as filmmakers can prove material is necessary for the filming, "it can shoot in Jordan."
Dubai International Film Festival managing director Shivani Pandya said that her organization has "made a concerted effort to steer away from political content" when looking at attracting filmmakers to the state.
"We have tried to stay away from the political (world) and stay neutral," she said. "We have turned down a few scripts (as a result)."...
Speaking at an industry event at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts here Monday, filmmakers bemoaned the lack of freedom of speech in territories across the region such as Lebanon, Egypt, Dubai and Iraq.
But producer-director Philippe Aractingi, whose Lebanese film "Under the Bombs" screened as part of the BAFTA four-day event, told an intimate gathering that that censorship was only one problem.
"It's not that difficult to shoot in Lebanon," Aractingi said. "But insurance companies are worried when it comes to shooting there. Our (Lebanese) way of seeing risk is totally different to the Western minds in terms of production."
Filmmaker Amin Matalqa, who shot his movie "Captain Abu Raed" in Jordan and went on to win prizes at the Dubai International Film Festival, also bemoaned the lack of support from Arab audiences at the boxoffice.
"Arab audiences don't want films from local filmmakers, they just want Hollywood blockbusters," Matalqa said. "Arab audiences don't deserve them if that's their attitude."
He cited his own experience, which saw his film secure prizes in Dubai yet failed to ignite the local boxoffice.
But despite the doom and gloom, reps from Dubai and the Royal Film Commission of Jordan still urged filmmakers to check it out.
Rfc Jordan production guru George David said that censorship laws are easing and, as long as filmmakers can prove material is necessary for the filming, "it can shoot in Jordan."
Dubai International Film Festival managing director Shivani Pandya said that her organization has "made a concerted effort to steer away from political content" when looking at attracting filmmakers to the state.
"We have tried to stay away from the political (world) and stay neutral," she said. "We have turned down a few scripts (as a result)."...
- 7/14/2008
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'George B'
PARK CITY, Utah -- "George B" is grade D filmmaking, a muddle of a movie about an innocent trying to make it in today's world. With conflicting tones, outlandish acting and poorly developed characters, this competition entrant at the Sundance Film Festival is, perhaps, indicative of the overall quality of the independent drama offered in this year's fest.
We first meet George David Morse) as he carries flowers, and then, slam-bang, he's beaten up and left in a women's bathroom. Undaunted, George Still retains an even temper. A part-time cleanup guy in a tavern, George has loftier ambitions. Evidently he's got some sort of system, for he quickly high-tails it to Reno, Nev., where he wins a bundle, returning to pay cash for two months' arrears on his mortgage, plus an advance month thrown in. Indeed, for bar help, George lives in a huge, white, columned manse that would incline one, say if one were a law-enforcement officer, to suspect nefarious sources of income.
While George seems adroit financially, he's woefully naive in love. He has eyes for a cheap sales girl (Nina Siemaszko), who is transparently manipulative. George is just as fast and tacky on the romantic front as he is on the financial front -- almost immediately the two copulate on a bridge. It's not a tender moment. Indeed, screenwriter-director Eric Lea's story gyrations and tonal upheavals are completely disruptive throughout. Although one feels a theme creaking through the seamier vents in this story line -- someone who tries to always be happy will be defeated by the big, bad world -- there is no consistent aesthetic at work here. He carries flowers and speaks in an even range, ergo, he's some sort of saint among us.
Central to the film's slack handle on developing anything beyond a superficial thrust is the character of George himself. He is generally articulate, highly verbal and not at all disconnected from the real world, except for the fact that he's somewhat overly trusting (welcome to the club). That he's slow to anger is his most distinguishing personality trait.
But George is no wise simpleton. He's more like one of those docile men let out of prison in the old movies who return to society by functioning quietly at a lousy job. In essence, he's unevenly fleshed out, indicative of the shallow writing. Supporting characters are similarly crudely drawn, including: a hapless security guard, a French-sounding bartender, an angry bar patron, etc. And, in Lea's atonal dialogue, high-pitched shouting or some other over-the-top hysterics invariably erupts almost immediately. The sorriest scenes, provoking unintentional laughter at the screening here, were uttered by the sales girl's mother character, a faux Lauren Bacall who snaps, glowers and rumbles like a "Saturday Night Live" takeoff.
George also dresses funny for a wise simpleton: Unlike, say Forrest Gump or Rain Man, he's a fashion king in his understated line of Gap-ish tones and quietly elegant coats. In short, technical contributions, not surprisingly, often ring false and are inconsistent. Charitably put, one could describe the film as "Lynchean", but, alas, the general awful shallowness of the realization precludes that optimistic assessment.
Through it all, there is one shining light, the luminously sharp cinematography of Wayne Kennan.
GEORGE B
Tango West
Producers Wade W. Danielson, Gloria Pryor
Screenwriter-director Eric Lea
Executive producer Mark Terry
Director of photography Wayne Kennan
Editor Pamela Raymer
Production designer Susan Karasic
Costume designer Heidi Higginbotham
Music David Reynolds
Casting Aaron Griffith
Color/stereo
Cast:
George David Morse
Angela Nina Siemaszko
Jerry Brad Gregg
Little Mike John Franklin
The mother Grace Zabriskie
Johnny Henry V. Brown Jr.
Security guard Brad Garrett
Running time --100 minutes...
We first meet George David Morse) as he carries flowers, and then, slam-bang, he's beaten up and left in a women's bathroom. Undaunted, George Still retains an even temper. A part-time cleanup guy in a tavern, George has loftier ambitions. Evidently he's got some sort of system, for he quickly high-tails it to Reno, Nev., where he wins a bundle, returning to pay cash for two months' arrears on his mortgage, plus an advance month thrown in. Indeed, for bar help, George lives in a huge, white, columned manse that would incline one, say if one were a law-enforcement officer, to suspect nefarious sources of income.
While George seems adroit financially, he's woefully naive in love. He has eyes for a cheap sales girl (Nina Siemaszko), who is transparently manipulative. George is just as fast and tacky on the romantic front as he is on the financial front -- almost immediately the two copulate on a bridge. It's not a tender moment. Indeed, screenwriter-director Eric Lea's story gyrations and tonal upheavals are completely disruptive throughout. Although one feels a theme creaking through the seamier vents in this story line -- someone who tries to always be happy will be defeated by the big, bad world -- there is no consistent aesthetic at work here. He carries flowers and speaks in an even range, ergo, he's some sort of saint among us.
Central to the film's slack handle on developing anything beyond a superficial thrust is the character of George himself. He is generally articulate, highly verbal and not at all disconnected from the real world, except for the fact that he's somewhat overly trusting (welcome to the club). That he's slow to anger is his most distinguishing personality trait.
But George is no wise simpleton. He's more like one of those docile men let out of prison in the old movies who return to society by functioning quietly at a lousy job. In essence, he's unevenly fleshed out, indicative of the shallow writing. Supporting characters are similarly crudely drawn, including: a hapless security guard, a French-sounding bartender, an angry bar patron, etc. And, in Lea's atonal dialogue, high-pitched shouting or some other over-the-top hysterics invariably erupts almost immediately. The sorriest scenes, provoking unintentional laughter at the screening here, were uttered by the sales girl's mother character, a faux Lauren Bacall who snaps, glowers and rumbles like a "Saturday Night Live" takeoff.
George also dresses funny for a wise simpleton: Unlike, say Forrest Gump or Rain Man, he's a fashion king in his understated line of Gap-ish tones and quietly elegant coats. In short, technical contributions, not surprisingly, often ring false and are inconsistent. Charitably put, one could describe the film as "Lynchean", but, alas, the general awful shallowness of the realization precludes that optimistic assessment.
Through it all, there is one shining light, the luminously sharp cinematography of Wayne Kennan.
GEORGE B
Tango West
Producers Wade W. Danielson, Gloria Pryor
Screenwriter-director Eric Lea
Executive producer Mark Terry
Director of photography Wayne Kennan
Editor Pamela Raymer
Production designer Susan Karasic
Costume designer Heidi Higginbotham
Music David Reynolds
Casting Aaron Griffith
Color/stereo
Cast:
George David Morse
Angela Nina Siemaszko
Jerry Brad Gregg
Little Mike John Franklin
The mother Grace Zabriskie
Johnny Henry V. Brown Jr.
Security guard Brad Garrett
Running time --100 minutes...
- 1/28/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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