ASPIRING filmmakers in the country are being invited to submit a synopsis for a short film as part of an initiative aimed at boosting Bahraini cinema.
The project, ‘Bring Life to Your Script’, has been launched by the French Embassy, given the important place French cinema holds in the history of movie-making.
From among the submissions, six to 10 candidates will be chosen for a screen-writing workshop hosted by French screen-writing expert and founder of Screenwriters Republic Marianne Mayer, and Blu Steel Films co-founder and Bahraini filmmaker Mohammed Fakhro.
From the workshop, one winner will be chosen who will have his or her screenplay professionally shot as a short film.
The winning film will then be screened at the Alliance Francaise and the Bahrain Cinema Club.
According to the embassy’s Co-operation and Cultural Counsellor Emmanuel Mayer, many Bahraini specialists have confirmed that screen-writing was often the weakest link in Bahraini cinema.
“Bahraini filmmakers know how to direct, while actors and technicians are very good but the story line is too often not as good as it should be,” he told the GDN.
“The idea behind the workshop is not to provide the filmmakers with general ideas on how to write a good script as you can find a lot of good books that can teach you the craft.
“But the initiative is to guide filmmakers, so that at the end of the eight-day workshop they would have finished their screenplay for a short fiction movie.”
A team made up of members of the Bahrain Cinema Club, Blu Steel Films, Alliance Francaise and the French Embassy will assess the quality of the synopsis as well as the experience of the filmmaker and his or her motivation.
A phone interview will then be conducted to determine commitment to the workshop.
He highlighted that following the workshop, where experts will train filmmakers to develop their project, the best screenplay will be chosen to be shot by Bahrain-based production company Blu Steel Films.
Mr Fakhro highlighted that the most important part of the initiative was that it was open to all, to raise awareness and expand the filmmaking industry.
“Anyone can join; if you have a story that you’ve been wanting to tell or an idea or experience that you’ve had in life and you want to put it on screen, I think that this is one of the better chances you have in Bahrain to do so,” he told the GDN.
“It gives motivation to those aspiring young filmmakers in Bahrain who are in their comfort zone and this will hopefully get them out of their comfort zone to tell their story.”
Mr Fakhro said he volunteered to take part in the initiative because he wanted the filmmaking industry in Bahrain to grow, and he also wanted to encourage budding filmmakers to leave their comfort zones.
“The filmmaking scene in Bahrain is great; we have a lot of potential and talented people who just need a chance and an opportunity,” he added.
The deadline for submissions is April 4.
For more details, contact Hélène Nkom Ebanda on 17298625 or email helene.nkom@diplomatie.gouv.fr or visit www.bh.ambafrance.org/-English-
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