The Cannes Market has partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Neom Media Industries and Arab Cinema Centre to host a conference on the fast-growing opportunities in production, finance and talent in the Middle East and North Africa.
Titled ’MENA 360: Accessing the Largest Untapped Market’ in the World, it will run as part of the Cannes Next programme and comprise three panels exploring the best ways for the international industry to secure financing, partners, locations and talent from the region.
MENA executives and talent due to speak on the panels include Wayne Borg, Neom’s managing director of media industries, entertainment and culture; Jordanian producer Rula Nasser (Rebel, Holy Spider); Zeinab Abu Alsamh, general manager of Saudi Arabia’s MBC Studios; and Alaa Fadan, CEO and chairman of Telfaz11, also in Saudi Arabia.
Further participants include Michel Zana, head of Dulac Productions and Distribution in France; MAD Solutions CEO Alaa Karkouti; Afnan Serajj, head of co-production and digital content at Saudi’s ART; and Rasha Al Emam, CEO of Saudi’s Yellow Camel, which has worked on upcoming feature Desert Warrior and series Rise Of The Witches.
Also on the panels are Mohannad Al Bakri, managing director of Jordan’s Royal Film Commission; Sudanese filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala, producer of Un Certain Regard title Goodbye Julia; Egyptian editor Ahmed Hafez (Marvel’s Moon Knight); IEFTA founder Marco Orsini; and US producer Eric Hedayat, whose credits include Desert Warrior, The Great Wall and Extraction.
Colin Brown from the Arab Cinema Centre will act as host throughout the event.
The two-hour, invite-only conference will take place on May 19 at the new Plage des Palmes venue, located next to the Palais as an extension of the International Village.
Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the Marché du Film, said the event would provide “a unique opportunity for the global film industry to explore the untapped potential of the Arab world’s entertainment market, connect with the region’s talented filmmakers and producers, and celebrate their industry”.
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