Tropfest Arabia to offer short film workshops in Beirut

In conjunction with Digital Emmy Award-Winning film director Amin Dora, Tropfest Arabia will offer aspiring filmmakers in Lebanon a workshop on short film creation. The workshop will take place on Saturday 11th June at Metropolis, Sofil Cinema, Beirut, from 7.00pm.

The workshop will commence with an introduction to Tropfest Arabia, which is the first short film festival of its kind in the region and will take place in Abu Dhabi in November 2011. One of the aims of Tropfest Arabia is to contribute to the development of the Arab film industry by providing an opportunity for the region’s filmmakers to bring their short films to the community.

The two hour workshop will be supported by renowned film director Amin Dora who will offer aspiring filmmakers a chance to learn more about the film industry with in-depth tutorial sessions on short filmmaking.

As well as outlining the short filmmaking process and exposing participants to past submissions, film makers will also be able to learn more about the Tropfest signature item (TSI). Each film must contain a specific object, known as the TSI, which this year is ‘STAR’. Some of the films entered may be heavily inspired by the item and others may have only small and sometimes hidden references to it. The TSI is designed to test the creativity of professional and amateur filmmakers by challenging them to reference it in their film and ensure that films are created specifically for Tropfest Arabia.

The Workshop will also give participants the opportunity to raise questions and gain further insight into the Tropfest Arabia festival and the role that short films are increasingly playing in the region’s growing media industry.

Tropfest Arabia aims to become one of the most influential and popular short film events on the region’s film calendar. One of Tropfest Arabia’s priorities is to help nurture the region’s growing film making community by taking a grass roots approach and supporting talent that might otherwise be excluded from the region’s film festivals.

In order to be eligible to submit a film to Tropfest Arabia, the film’s director must be a citizen of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region including Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen. Entrants must conform to the religious, cultural and political sensitivities of the region and films must be appropriate for public screening in Abu Dhabi.

To register for Tropfest Arabia workshops or to get further details on how to submit a film visit: www.tropfestarabia.com.

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