Greenhouse Selects New Documentary Filmmakers from the Middle East and Mediterranean Region

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16 documentaries being produced by young emerging filmmakers living in and around the Mediterranean Sea have been chosen by Greenhouse to receive help and mentoring as they produce and finalize their films. The filmmakers come from countries without official diplomatic or cultural ties, but develop a close camaraderie with their colleagues while learning from professionals.

Jerusalem, May 6, 2011, PressReleasePoint
Greenhouse Project Encourages Documentary Filmmakers from the Mediterranean Region
For the sixth year running, Greenhouse has reviewed and selected a number of promising documentary films to support and bring to completion. From countries including Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Egypt, the committee selected such films as "Salt of the Earth" (The Dead Sea Movie) http://www.prlog.org/10860693-dead-sea-realtime-en... by Israel film producer, Shalom Goodman, "I am Sudan", by Egypt's Mohamed Siam, and "A Generation Sacrifice" by Algerian filmmaker Safia Bendjebbaer.

Greenhouse is an international company that develops documentary films focusing on film school graduates and emerging filmmakers from countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin. Due to difficulties such as political strife or social issues in their home countries, many potential filmmakers have fallen through the cracks over the years. Greenhouse aims to find those struggling artists and provide professional mentors to help them through the development phase of their films, guide them through difficult stages and ensure that they will get their projects through to the trailer stage.

Creating Award Winning Documentaries

The folks at Greenhouse discovered a goldmine of super-talented documentary filmmakers working throughout the Mediterranean countries and set out to provide them with the knowledge and know-how to bring their ideas to successful completion. Support given through Greenhouse has not only created a very unique camaraderie amongst Middle East filmmakers, but its efforts have also resulted in excellent documentaries being produced in Tunisia, Syria, The Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Algeria and Egypt. The joint EU-Mediterranean project is the most successful documentary venture of its kind in today's international film scene. In fact, Greenhouse has gained a global reputation from leaders in the film industry for the number of films premiering in film festivals and international competitions.

Structured Professional Support

The filmmakers of the 16 projects chosen for development will now have opportunities go participate in structured agenda of seminars. They will also benefit from specially tailored tutors that will walk them through each stage of development and finalization of their films. They will learn how to pull out the guts of the film and tell their stories in such a compelling way that the film will have long-lasting impact on the viewers, as a good documentary should. The participants are invited to three seminars throughout the course of one year. The first seminar will be held in Morocco in May of this year followed by two more sessions in September and December. The complete package will include lectures, case studies and reports, individual mentoring, master classes, group meetings, networking, editing the final trailer and, most importantly, a forum for pitching their films to potential financiers.

This Year's Chosen Films

Of the 67 proposed documentaries, only 16 were chosen. They are:
• "Ghetto Neighborhood", by Rafael Balulu (Israel)
• "Living With the Dead", by Mohamed Haytham (Egypt)
• "Demands of a Nation", by Mia Bitter (Lebanon)
• "Territorium Nostrum", Samy Elhaj (Tunis)
• "Salt of the Earth", Shalom Goodman (Israel)
• "A Generation Sacrifice", by Safia Bendjebbaer (Algeria)
• "The 514 Line Ladies", by Rafik Omrani, Khaouther Dridi (Tunis)
• "Rajar", Oshri Hayum and Hila Cohen (Israel)
• "Statless!" by George Tarabay and Elias Khalil (Lebanon)
• "One Day in the Medersa", by Youssef Ait Mansour (Morocco)
• "Moukef, the Women's Market", by Sarah Lamrini (Morocco)
• "No, We Shall Not Live Long", by Azzam El Mehdi (Morocco)
• "I Am Sudan", by Mohamed Siam and Mohamed Hafzy (Egypt)
• "Death Tunnel", by Mohamed Harb (Palestine Authority)
• "Another Face", by Ziad Abu Khousa (Palestine)

According to Greenhouse Manager Sigal Yehuda, "the final films create interest in every country where they are presented and often receive prizes at international film festivals."

Yehuda notes, "The past six years of working with the documentary filmmakers has shown that Greenhouse serves as an objective meeting ground for filmmakers living in countries that do not have either diplomatic or cultural relations. Because of this, the project has succeeded in attracting artists from the region who ask to be considered for involvement in Greenhouse film projects."