Marc Nicolas, head of the prestigious Femis Film School in Paris, has confirmed that last summer’s successful Gulf Summer School programme will run again this year.
In fact, he revealed that he expects the scheme – as part of which aspiring filmmakers from the region travel to Paris to study the art of cinema for five weeks – to become an annual event, following successful talks with partners including Image Nation Abu Dhabi and the French oil giant Total.
Nicolas was keen to emphasise the cultural benefits of the programme, as well as the technical skills the students learn.
“The world we are in today is made of layers,” he says. “There’s a common layer that comes through globalisation, with common references concerning the cultural industries.
“At the same time, there are things that are specific to our national identities and cultures.
“We’re all made of this mixture of things, and I think we have to protect the second one. Not in a conservative way in the bad sense, but in the good sense of cultural differences that can enrich us.
“We all like to go to foreign countries and learn new things, discover new food, ways of dressing or behaving in public, different landscapes. We have to enjoy all these cultural differences and be aware that while the common layer is a good thing that makes it easier to communicate, there are also uninteresting things that only exist because the market wanted it.
“We have to deal with this in every country. A school of art like ours has to constantly make our students think about this and then propose it to audiences in a way that makes them think and change their lives.
“That’s why since the beginning of time, artists have always travelled to learn new cultures. It’s not fundamentally changed from 500 years ago. People always think everything is radically new, but there are far more things in the world that aren’t radically new.”
The students we spoke to after last year's course seemed to agree, with many noting that the cultural exposure they had been given to non-mainstream cinema was perhaps the most memorable part of the experience.
“The Gulf Summer School was a great experience,” Nicolas says. “The students we selected were very much involved with what they were doing, wanted to learn about French cinema and get a perspective on non-Hollywood cinema.
“They basically knew nothing about world cinema beyond Hollywood, but they were very open to it. Hollywood dominates the world, but in my 25 years of experience, when you introduce people to other cinema – whether it’s French, Italian, Chinese – they love it and think it’s great art.
“Distribution is the key, and sometimes, because of the power of Hollywood, it’s easy for people to not even know about other cinema – but it exists. Of course our students were already interested in cinema, so they were automatically open to it.”
Last year’s students seemed to have been affected by their experience too – Nicolas reveals that they recently met up again in Dubai, despite coming from across the UAE, Yemen and Kuwait, and were hoping to reunite in Paris again.
“This is very encouraging because it shows that what they experienced together was very deep for them in their lives, and maybe they will work together again,” he says. “Many of our alumni in Paris still work together 15 years later. Why? Because learning together is very precious, whatever you learn, and even more so when you make art because you’re not only learning technique or history or cultural references, but also building your own path.
“When you do that with other people it’s a very powerful shared experience that shapes your character for life.”
During his recent Gulf visit, Nicolas added Doha to his itinerary, and confirmed that students from Qatar would be eligible for this year’s summer school.
Some fruitful ideas for future courses came out of his meetings with Gulf partners too.
“Since we did this last year I really wanted to come and meet the people we’ve been working with in their own countries, and continue our understanding of each other,” he says. “You can get a lot of understanding and come up with a lot of new ideas by actually sitting and talking to people.
“For example we’re thinking about something with scriptwriting in future. It’s still at the discussion level, but we consider there is a need there and these are things you can learn just by meeting and talking.”
* The Gulf Summer School is looking for about 10 students from across the Arabian Gulf to take part in this year's course in August and September. Applications are due to open next month. Keep an eye on www.lafemis.fr for more details.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
