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Netflix joins AFAC to support female filmmakers

The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity in the Arab world, valued at USD 250,000, will provide financial support to women filmmakers in the Arab world…reports Asian Lite News

Netflix in partnership with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture – AFAC, has announced five Arab women filmmakers and producers who will receive a one-time grant through Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity to bring their fiction and non-fiction projects to life.

The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity is a global fund launched in early 2021 that aims to establish more opportunities for people from underrepresented communities to have their voices heard, and purposefully close skill gaps with training programs where they are needed. The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity in the Arab world, valued at USD 250,000, will provide financial support to women filmmakers in the Arab world.

Nuha El Tayeb, Director Content Acquisitions, Middle East, and Turkey – Netflix: “The Arab world has a long-standing history of women in entertainment, and we’ve had incredible successes and firsts from the region that we’re all very proud of. But in order to give more people a chance to see their lives reflected on screen, we need more women behind and in front of the camera. The Fund for Creative Equity helps the industry as a whole to have a much more dynamic, interesting, multidimensional representation of women and this is one step in the journey to enabling more women to tell their stories and have new audiences discover their work.”

Five women were selected to receive a grant for their individual projects. The five women filmmakers represent different parts of the Arab world including Lebanon, Tunisia, and Morocco. AFAC already has two grants aiming to support filmmakers in cinema and documentary making. Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity grantees were selected from the list of women filmmakers shortlisted for each of these grants for the 2021 cycle.

“More and more Arab women filmmakers are creating moving images that have the power to shed light on the realities of the region. This second collaboration with Neftlix, this time to support women in the field of cinema, complements perfectly AFAC’s mission to promote diversity of voices and narratives”, stated Rima Mismar, AFAC’s Executive Director.

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Asmae El Moudir is a Director and Producer from Morocco whose film, ‘The Mother of All Lies’ has been shortlisted for the non-fiction category. Diala Kachmar (From the other shore), Jana Wehbe (The Day Vladimir Died) and Tania Khoury (Manity) – all female producers from Lebanon are spearheading three exciting fiction projects, and Sarra Abidi – Director and Producer from Tunisia will bring her fiction project (My Name is Clara) to life on screen.

Over the years, Netflix has licensed exceptional work from female creators and is working with more regional storytellers to forefront their experiences. The investment in the Fund for Creative Equity is another way to amplify women’s voices and ultimately bring fresh and authentic content to audiences in the region.

‘Storytellers want maximum eyeballs’

Dibakar’s film brings back Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra on the silver screen after almost three years. The actor first worked together in the 2012 film “Ishaqzaade” and later worked together in “Namaste England” (2018)…writes Yashika Mathur.

Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee’s new film “Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar” opens today. He feels be it OTT or theatres, storytellers want maximum eyeballs for their projects.

Commenting on whether OTT has now cemented its place in the audience mindset, Dibakar tells : “I think even theatrical producers and directors are deeply cementing their product to what their audience wants to see, so we all want the maximum number of eyes to see us and give us money, fame and power. There is no difference. Therefore, all of us keep an eye out for what the audience wants to see to a lesser or larger extent. In my case, when I want to tell the audience a story, I tell it my way and hope that I can convert more and more people to my way of thinking.”

Dibakar’s film brings back Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra on the silver screen after almost three years. The actor first worked together in the 2012 film “Ishaqzaade” and later worked together in “Namaste England” (2018).