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doha diary

A PAssIOn fOR

CInEmA

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f there is one word to describe Chadi Zeneddine, the Lebanese film maker who has joined Doha Film Institute's (DFI) education team, it would be ‘passionate’.

But even that word seems inadequate to convey the ardour he exudes as he sprints down from first floor of W Hotel to the lobby for our interview. At 30 and just one movie old, and a lot more in the pipeline, Zeneddine is excited about a lot of things. Most exciting among them was the ongoing one-minute film workshop he just completed at Doha. He sits down to coffee and conversation with 74

Qatar Today AUGUST 10

By Sindhu Nair

Chadi Zeneddine, The Lebanese film maker who has joined Doha Film Institute's education team

Qatar Today on a subject that is close to his heart – cinema.

For the love of the game

DFI provided film and football enthusiasts with a creative way to express their passion for the sport, with a one-minute film workshop mentored by Zeneddine, aptly called ‘For the Love of the Game’.

The films created during the workshop were screened on July 11 before the final game of the FIFA World Cup at the Qatar 2022 Bid Fan Zone in Souq Waqif.

Zeneddine sums up the workshop as a ‘great human experience’.

ThESE ARE My FAVOURiTES...

Zeneddine has a list of favourites and he is inspired by these great movie makers: “Andrei Tarkovsky, Federico Fellini, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergmam and Alfred Hitchcock are my all time favourites and their movies are my kind of movies.”

doha diary “I was a bit sceptical when DFI first told me about this project. I was wondering what could be achieved in such a short time frame. But I was pleasantly surprised how it shaped through. Now I understand why this is important. One can be from any background, language or country, but the language of creativity and the passion to learn the craft unifies all. The participants were from various backgrounds and age groups, but the passion and dedication they had unified them.”

Explaining the process of film education in this exercise, he says, “The students come with a story idea and they learn how to pitch, they learn to write the script, about the concept of storyboard, the equipment. We picked seven films this time as these were ready. All the seven

“The youngest participant was an 11-year-old Indian boy and the oldest a 40-year-old French woman. This is richness and it is this diversity that I associate Qatar with.” stories are different; one was an animation, a mix animation, comedy, and one a romantic comedy.”

The industry

The Middle East film industry is growing.

“The world is ready to hear stories from

the Arab world and we are getting ready to tell them. It is history in the making for the industry. There is so much talent here now.”

In 2009, he was a jury member for the Abu Dhabi Middle East International Film Festival and that he says was a “proud moment”.

His advice to the young aspiring film makers is to have a good script ready.

“If you have a good script, that is half the job done.”

“This is my first office job,” he says speaking about DFI, describing it as a “hub for cinema, a place where talents meet.”

“I am in the midst of great talent, from DFI's Executive Director Amanda Palmer to Scandar Copti, Head of DFI's educational team and DTFF Programmer.”

ExPERiEnCES in MOViE MAkinG

Two weeks of workshop at DFI and the team had seven one-minute long films ready.

“There were 20 participants and we chose just seven of them. The youngest participant was an 11-year-old Indian boy and the oldest a 40-year-old French man. This is richness and it is this diversity that I associate Qatar with.”

Mohammed Moukasem, the 11-yearold, had a simple narrative in his movie. It was an animation called The Football Match with two figures, made of match sticks, playing the match.

My personal favourite was the comedy, Serious Business, by Hisham El Bassiouni, which showed a typical office with all the employees hooked to the game.

El Bassiouni is a Project Manager for a Construction Company in Qatar. He terms this experience as unforgettable and one from which he has learnt a lot and is willing to have another stint at the workshop, just for the experience factor. He says, “It involves a lot of work and stress, and if you can't feel the excitement you won't have the energy to go on and give it all you have.”

Nouf Al-Thani, 26, is a Qatari and an accountant by profession. She was the co-director with Jawaher Al-Thani of Beyond Football.

For her, the experience was inspiring. She says, “Ever

Workshop at DFI

since I was little I used to make up stories but never translated that into the real thing except in paintings. But recently, when I started writing novels, I wanted to experience film-making because in my opinion they are connected.”

And for her, simplicity is the key to success. Jawaher Al -Thani feels that story structure is most important whether it's one-minute movie or a 120-minute movie.

“If the film hasn't been structured well, there would be no meaning to it.”

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doha diary

For the love of the medium

For most, there is one defining moment when you know for sure what you are destined to do in life. For Zeneddine, that moment arrived early, but it didn't take distinct shape until much later.

“I always knew I would do something artistic, be it in architecture, painting, theatre or dance. I knew it would be a creative medium.”

It was his brother, who was obsessed with being an actor, who guided him to the path of film-making.

“When my brother came from France to Gabon, Africa (where we lived), he was so obsessed with being an actor. I was constantly filming him and then I made up my mind to keep doing the same, filming, but of course on different subjects.”

It was while doing his Masters degree in Film and Video studies that Zeneddine was all set to put his foot into the world of cinema.

“It was while I was finishing my Masters that I began shooting for my first feature film, in a 35mm format. The movie, Falling from Earth took me three years and a half to make though it involved only 25 days of shoot because I didn't have any money to make it faster.”

Zeneddine attributes all his achievements and the grey hairs dotting his head to this movie.

“I gave it all I had. My parents funded me, the actors acted for free. I was the 76

Qatar Today AUGUST 10

DFI Plans

According to Amanda Palmer, DFI plans to provide financing and other support for new films from the Arab world, assisting filmmakers from conception to production and distribution, to the promotion and advertising of their finished work. DFI's film financing team has already received a number of strong scripts and plans to finance 10 films in the region each year, which will create new opportunities in the Middle East and establish Qatar as a filmmaking centre.

To identify and foster new talent, DFI's educational team, headed by Oscar-nominated Palestinian Director Scandar Copti, has an ambitious 12-month calendar of workshops both in Qatar and as far away as Africa and the United States, aimed at inspiring and empowering the next generation of Qatari, regional and international filmmakers. From an immersive series of screenwriting, directing and filmmaking courses to providing mentorships in acting, sound design, animation and video art, DFI is enabling both aspiring members of the film industry as well as residents with a passion for film to learn the business of film firsthand, conferring hands-on skills and experience.

director, the writer, the producer, the press attache' – all rolled into one. But the effort paid off. The movie opened doors to me. It was taken to 24 festivals all over the world.”

The movie also paved way to his next BIG project, one that seems to be almost like a ‘dream come true’. A project signed with Walt Disney International Pictures for The Last of the Storytellers, the first ever fairy tale set in the Arab World with Zeneddine as a writer and director.

“It's about a traditional hakawati and a modern adaptation of Sheherazade, Ali Baba and Antar.”

Narrating the story, he says, “The movie is about an imaginary world parallel to the Arab world. It is the story of Ibrahim, a boy who lives in a village called Gabbarra. His father is a story teller who gathers all the children and tells them stories of Laila Majnu, Alibaba, Sheherezade and other stories of the region. Ibrahim asks his father for the secret behind his story-telling capabilities and then the adventure begins.

As the story is being narrated, the passion that gleams in Zeneddine's eyes is infectious and the fairytale seems eerily real.

The movie is all about believing in your dreams, he says and then you know that the story is close to the writer's heart. And in Zeneddine, you can see the young Ibrahim, the boy with dreams of telling stories... n