- 11 Jan 2019
[MEI SALON] Filmmaking in the Middle East
This MEI Salon is jointly organized by NUS Middle East Institute and LaSalle College of the Arts.
The Middle East Institute invites you to MEI Salon, a series of special events conducted in a casual relaxed setting aimed at making Middle Eastern culture more accessible to everyone. We strip away the academic jargon, and keep things light-hearted and interactive with topics that range from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Here are three reasons why you’ll be interested:
- It is not all talk and no action. Apart from a brief sharing session on a particular theme/topic, every Salon event will also include a hands-on activity. You could learn how to make a Middle Eastern dish, play an instrument, or learn how to put on the ghutrah (Male Arabic headgear)!
- The Discourse. You get to decide how the discussion flows. No moderator, no Chatham House rules, no preferred Q&A structure. (Just don’t hog the floor).
- Your time to shine. Not an expert but fascinated by a facet of the Middle East? You are most welcomed to be one of our speakers at a future Salon event.
Eager to be part of this exciting cultural endeavour? Register as soon as possible as seats are extremely limited. In this edition of MEI Salon, we have invited the internationally acclaimed director, Annemarie Jacir, to talk about Filmmaking in the Middle East. She will share her latest film, Wajib and the remarkable process of working with actors who are father and son in real life.
About the Speakers
Founder
Philistine Films
Annemarie Jacir has written, directed and produced over sixteen films. Two of her films have premiered as Official Selections in Cannes, one in Berlin and in Venice, Locarno, and Telluride. Her short film like twenty impossibles (2003) was the first Arab short film in history to be an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival and continued to break ground when it went on to be a finalist for the Academy Awards. Her second work to debut in Cannes, the critically acclaimed Salt of this Sea, went on to win the FIPRESCI Critics Award, and garnered fourteen other international awards including Best Film in Milan. Her second feature When I Saw You won Best Asian Film at the Berlin Intl. Festival, Best Arab Film in Abu Dhabi and Best Film in Amiens, Phoenix, and Olympia, and garnered a nomination at the Asian Pacific Screen Awards. It was also Palestine’s 2012 Oscar Entry. With a commitment to teaching, training and hiring locally, Annemarie also curates, actively promoting independent cinema in the region. Founder of Philistine Films, she collaborates regularly as an editor, screenwriter and occasional producer with fellow filmmakers. She teaches screenwriting and works as a freelance editor as well as consultant. Her most recent film Wajib (2017) won 33 international awards including Best Film in Mar Del Plata, Dubai, Amiens, DC Film Festival, Kosovo and Kerala and jury mention at the London BFI Festival. She is cofounder of the newly established Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art and Research in Bethlehem, fulfilling a lifelong family dream of establishing a space for the arts in Bethlehem.
