Three German-Arab projects awarded

The Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung handed out awards of up to €70,000 to three German-Arab projects at a gala held at the Berlinale Talents on Sunday night.

The three winning projects – selected from a shortlist of 15 – are Mohamed Siam’s documentary Amal; Amjad Al Rasheed and Darin Salam’s short fiction film The Parrot; and Ghassan Halwani’s animation Clean Up The Living Room, We’ve Got Visitors Coming.

Produced by Sara Bökemeyer, Amal (Germany-Egypt) revolves the impact of the Egyptian revolution on a young girl. The Parrot (Germany-Jordan), produced by Roman Roitman, is about a Moroccon Jewish family trying to settle into their new lives in Palestine in 1948.

Clean Up The Living Room (Germany-Lebanon), produced by Inka Dewitz, mixes animation and live action in a story about people who disappeared during the Lebanese Civil War.

Launched in 2012, the Film Prize aims to match producers and filmmakers in the Arab world with German producers. Robert Bosch Stiftung previously had a similar programme with Eastern Europe. “When the Arab spring happened we realised how little is known about Arab cinema,” said Frank W. Albers, project manager and initiator of the Film Prize. “We decided to explore cooperation and found very high interest on both sides.”

The initiative includes project markets in Jordan and Egypt during summer; the Nominees Forum in Berlin in November; an evaluation at Dubai International Film Festival in December; and the final pitching and judging during the Berlinale, which is attended by the 15 shortlisted teams.

Judges included producer Roman Paul, Egyptian arthouse distributor Hania Mroue and World Cinema Fund’s Vincenzo Bugno.

The Berlinale Talents gala also previewed last year’s winners: Sherif Elbendary’s Dry Hot Summers, Dalia Al-Kury’s Possessed By Djinn and Manivelle – Memories Of The Man Of Tomorrow, directed by Lebanon’s Fadi Baki.