Emirates News Agency – Filmmakers at the “Sharjah Film Festival”: Freedom and unconditional sponsorship are the most important elements of “independent cinema”

Sharjah, 13 October / WAM / The elite of independent filmmakers have confirmed that independence and unconditional funding are the most important elements of an independent film.

It was part of a panel discussion hosted by the Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth entitled “Independent Films”, directed by Emirati Actor and Director Nawaf Al-Janahi, with the participation of Emirati Director Khalid Al-Mahmoud and Egyptian Director Sharif. Al-Bandari, filmmaker and creative consultant Mahmoud Kapoor and director of the local film and television department in Ignition Abu Dhabi, Hana Qasem.

In response to an essential question raised by the session on the definition of independent film, director Sheriff L-Bandari found through his 15 years of experience that there is a unique uniqueness in the definition of independent film. To return to making a film outside of the context of commercial cinema, it gives him the freedom to choose the titles, production format and scope of work.

According to director Khalid al-Mahmoud, he defines independent film by its source of funding, so that the crew does not depend on a financial institution that imposes its perspective and taxes, or compels the director to work in a way that affects the freedom of the film. Image jobs accepted by production companies, then responsible for marketing them.

In the definition of independent films, the director of documentaries, Mahmoud Kapoor, said that its machine was a person who invented his idea as a doctoral student, but the difference between them is that the independent filmmaker implements his idea within a team and assumes many responsibilities for technical matters from different angles.

In turn, director Hana Qasem said that independent cinema thrives in areas where the director is supported and funded, giving him the freedom he does not have when working with studios and large production companies. Lack of funding and mainly depends on subsidies and private funds, and this offer is not widely available in the Arab region.

Participants in the session imagined how the director of independent films maintains his independence and his interventions about the possibilities of achieving this if there is a product that is compatible with the director in the cinematic view that the film does not change the course of the film.

In order to solve the problems of production in independent cinema, the participants in the session concluded the importance of adding an extra dimension to independent films and allowing them to be shown in theaters in addition to commercial films, and the independent filmmaker seeks to work with production companies to ensure that the marketing aspect of the film is observed.