Emirati film group to host forum ahead of festival

Abu Dhabi // An initiative designed to turn young Emiratis into the international filmmakers of tomorrow is to hold a three-day conference next month in the run-up to the Middle East International Film Festival. The Circle, established last year by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (Adach), is holding the event immediately before the festival so its students can exchange ideas and hone their skills before seeing how the professionals do it on the big screen.

Doha al Wazany, a spokeswoman for The Circle, said the timing was intended to inspire their filmmaker fellows. "Our priority is to help aspiring Emiratis become successful film-makers," she said. "Over the past year we have run many different initiatives and we hope next month's conference will bring everything together so that they can not only enjoy the films at the festival, but also believe that one day it could be their films being shown."

The Circle was formed after last year's festival. It aims to train up to 10 aspiring filmmakers each year in the practical and financial aspects of film production. Applicants apply online and the best movie ideas are selected by The Circle committee. This year six emerging talents were accepted. Last year organisers had Paul Haggis, the director of the Oscar-winning film Crash, hold a masterclass for budding filmmakers.

Adrienne Briggs, The Circle's director, said: "The six Emiratis were flown over to Los Angeles to attend summer workshop sessions, which provided them with an overview of the filmmaking process and a focus on how to create a story outline. "They were also involved in master classes on various screenwriting and story-structure techniques that allowed them to start creating their own feature-length scripts."

The group also had the chance to tour studios and film sets as well as take part in workshops at production and post-production facilities. Alia al Shamsi, one of the students, is working on a story about an Emirati woman obliged to overcome social obstacles as she enters the job market and struggles to become a journalist. Another, Fadel al Muhairi, who lives in Abu Dhabi, said the trip gave him direction and guidance in writing while widening his knowledge of the film industry.

Eissa al Mazrouei, project manager for Adach, said The Circle provided an opportunity to preserve Emirati culture by creating local stories that could be filmed and shared with the world. The Circle Conference 2008 will run from Oct 6-11 at the Shangri La Hotel, Abu Dhabi. It will be followed by an interactive media exhibition at the Marina Mall from Oct 9-11 at which 15 established Arab filmmakers will display their work and take part in discussion panels.