08/04/2010

Fourteen scriptwriters from Europe and several Arab countries will gather in Turin from April 18-23, 2010 for the first of the Interchange - Development and Co-production Workshops for the Arab World.

This new initiative launched by TorinoFilmLab, the Dubai International Film Festival and EAVE, with the support of Media International, aims to build cooperation between film professionals from Europe, the Gulf countries and selected countries of the Middle East (Bahrain, Iraq , Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen). Twelve writer/director + producer teams will be chosen and brought together for two residential workshops, as well as online sessions.

During this first workshop scriptwriters will work on developing their scripts under the guidance of three Interchange tutors: Italian story editor Gino Ventriglia, French story editor and scriptwriter Antoine Le Bos and Lebanese scriptwriter Jacques Akchoti. Lectures and pitching training will also be part of the workshop schedule.

Afterwards, participants will continue to develop their projects through the online sessions, and reach the final step during the second workshop, which will take place during the Dubai International Film Festival in December 2010. On this occasion, the scriptwriters will attend the workshop in team with their producers. The final workshop comprises one pitching event and one-to-one meetings with film industry professionals from the EU and Arab regions.

The following 12 projects will participate in Interchange 2010:

Kosher Swine Flu - writer/director Basil Khalil (Palestine), producer Christopher Simon (Lebanon/Australia)
Abundance - writers/directors Firas Khnaisser (Lebanon) & Samer Ghorayeb (Lebanon), producer Tinatin Kajrishvili (Georgia)
Habibi 99 - writer/director Mousaed Khaled (Kuwait), producer Talal Al-Muhanna (Kuwait)
So Long City - writer/director Claude El Khal (Lebanon/France), producer Francesca van der Staay (Italy/Germany)
Beirut, I Love You - writers/directors Zena El Khalil (Lebanon) & Gigi Roccati (Italy), producer Marta Donzelli (Italy)
Stuffed Marrows - writer/director Zaid Abu Hamdan (Jordan/Lebanon), producer Heba Abu Musaed (Palestine/Jordan)
This War On Love - writer/director Hind Shoufani (Palestine), producer Dima Ansari Hamoud (Kuwait)
Khsara: Void After Expiration - writer/director Suha Araj (Palestine), producer Rumzi Araj (Palestine)
Heaven Sent - writer/director Wissam Charaf (Lebanon), producer Charlotte Vincent (France)
A Plane For My Soul - writer/director Maythem Ridha (Iraq), producer Manda Popat (UK)
A Personal Obligation - writer/director Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudi Arabia), producer Amr Al Kahtani (Saudi Arabia)
Smile! You're In Jeddah - writer/director/producer Ahd Kamel (Saudi Arabia), producer Amr Waked (Egypt)