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Syrian Retrospective @ Cinema Du Reel 2006
Cinema Du Reel 2006 is featuring a Syrian Documentary Retrospective. Full details are available on the festival website. Only two prouductions are 2005; being Black Stone by Nidal Al Dibs and Before Vanishing by Joude Gorani.

March, 2006

3 Features @ The National Film Organization 2006
The NFO has announced 2 feature films to be produced during 2006.
Confirmed were a film by Waleed Hureib, the NFO’s Production Department Director who is originally a film editor, and a film by Raymond Boutros, a Syrian well-known filmmaker. Boutros has adapted a novel by Kheiri Zahabi entitled “Hasiba”.

A third film pending for approval is a feature to be made of 7 chapters of approx. 15 min. Each chapter will be directed by a young Syrian filmmaker. The working title for the film is “A PRAYER FOR THE ABSENT".
previous news about this subject

March, 2006

New Equipment Rates @ the National Film Organization
The National Film Organization, which is the only 16 & 35 mm equipment rental house in Syria, has decided to fix its new rates after rate cards downloaded from the websites of London-based rental houses!
This was unnegotiably done in May 2005. Still the old laws are applied. Thus for any producer to rent NFO equipment they have to deposit between $ 1000 to $ 3000 before they are allowed the equipment, and still they don't get any discounts for a longer period of time. This didn't only harm the local productions from really benefiting from the only provider for such equipment, and from what is supposed to be a state-subsidized service, but has also kissed-good-bye the International Production from using our edge of low-costs, regarding this matter!.

October, 2005

August, 2005

Syria Celebrates An Italian Production
"7 Kilometers from Jerusalem" is an Italian production being filmed in Syria at the moment. The production was welcomed by Syria's first lady & considered a very good step towards a good representation of Syria. It was also praise by the religious references as a very good example of respect between religions.
The Syrian Arab News Agency reported: The Italian producer said "The movie was originally planned to be filmed in Morocco, but due to Syria’s beautiful nature we changed the location”.
The Director Claudio Malaponti gave a very promising “off- the-edge” synopsis, he said: “it talks about a man who suffers from inner conflict between his personal and material life. Due to the psychological crisis he faces, he loses his job, wife and daughter. At a moment, he feels as if he went to Jerusalem and thought that he met Jesus Christ near the city, leading him to a belief that : if we want to reach our insides we have to be tolerant”.
After parts of Pazolini’s Medea were shot in Syria during the 1970s, the Italian comeback seems to be different!

August, 2005.

Heitham Hakki In Egypt
Heitham Hakki, father of Syrian TV drama, as many critics call him, is directing an Egyptian TV series! This becomes a very interesting piece of news when considering the argumentative Syrian-Egyptian TV production competitiveness during the last 10 years.
It is said as well, that an Egyptian producer is negotiating with Hatem Ali, The Syrian Star Director, for a Feature Film. It is known that Ali is directing a TV series written by the Egyptian well-known script writer Ousama Akasheh. The Script is owned now by SAPI, which is probably the most powerful TV series producer in Syria.
It seems that the Egyptian Entertainment Industry is again being farsighted by partnering with the Syrian rising competition rather than fighting it. It is worthy to mention, though, that the Syrians were as responsive.

August, 2005

Diana El Jeiroudi’s “The Pot” To Yamagata
Proaction production of El Jeiroudi's short documentary “The Pot” is now an official selection in Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival’s “New Asian Currents”.
It was Diana’s first doc, addressing the question of female identity in a society that makes pregnancy the female “reason d’etre”.

August, 2005.

Crying Out Loud
Abdullatteef Abdulhamid and Oussama Muhammad's cries for youth films were finally given an ear by the up-to-date most powerful film producer in Syria, The National Film Organization. 7-short films will be directed by 7 independent directors in 2006 according to NFO. Directors are Alphabetically: Amar Beik, Alfoz Tanjour, Gaya Gigi, Nidal Hassan, Orwa Nyrabia, Siwar Zirkly, and Talal Deraki.
The films are meant to be commercially released as one Feature film! We will be there to see and tell!

July, 2005

A New Wedding
Abdullatif Abdulhamid started shooting his "Thursday wedding" in Damascus, after a script he wrote & which was considered one of Syria's most politically controversial feature film projects. The DP is Elso Roque, a seasoned Portuguese DP who filmed many De Oliviera films, and began his Syrian filmography with Oussama Mohammad's "Sacrifices".
The film is being produced by the NFO, Syria's Ministry of Culture film production entity which has been monopolizing the film production sector for more than 25 years.
"Thursday Wedding" is with Fayez Kazaq & Siba Mobarak in the lead.

First Female DP in Syria
Jude Gorani, a femis graduate, is now back from France. Gorani, is starting her professional career as a Director of Photography with the documentary "Paradise Baghdad" which is being in pre-production. Gorani also will start tutoring at the MIOAA this September .

July, 2005

Ever since 1973, Private Feature Film Production
According to the big success it was expected to have and actually gained, the TV series "Big Dreams" by Hatem Ali was also made so it can be re-edited and transferred into 35mm. The film was shot in Digital Beta cam taking care of all technical notes Proaction Film has provided both with the technology.
The film is re-named into "Lovers" and has a major divert from the original script.

June, 2005

Amiraly at Tribecca Film Festival
Omar Amiraly, the famous most prominent Documentary Director in Syria, participated in Tribecca Film Festival 2005. The documentary was the first Syrian film to be an official selection in an American Festival ever. However, it was not as celebrated as it was in the European media.

May , 2005.