Berlinale-Blogger*innen 2024  3 min Meeting the Talented Women of Arab Cinema at the Berlinale

Berlinale Talents 2024 featured a number of Arab filmmakers, including young, talented women from various countries, each of whom had a different experience at the festival. I met three of them - Jordanian director Zain Duraie, Sudanese director Fatima Wardy and Palestinian actress Maria Zreik – to talk about their impressions of the festival and the situation of Arab filmmakers around the world.

Taking Part in Berlinale Talents

What were your impressions on taking part in the programme?

Fatima: I found the talent programme really useful, especially the Short Film Station, which gave me a lot of value. This morning I finished a training session on how to make a presentation of your project.
Zain: You were lucky with your experience. On the contrary, I felt quite frustrated about being in the programme without a project. I think attending as part of a training program or within the co-production market is more beneficial than being there independently as a talent.

Fatima: I think it also depends on what stage you’re at in your career. A lot of what I’ve seen here is new to me, and the most important thing is whether you can introduce yourself to the huge film market in Berlin.

Maria: My only comment is that the programme administration treats you as a student. Even the meetings are called “lessons”. Maybe this is the general thrust of the program, but I wasn’t expecting it. Then again, overall it’s a privilege to be chosen among all these talents.

What were the most important events you’ve attended during the programme?

Zain: The Dine and Shine meeting, where we met a lot of prominent figures, and also the Talent Circle, where there were a lot of funders.

The Presence of Arab Filmmakers in Berlin

When I attended the Berlinale for the first time in 2014, Arab films had a prominent presence, perhaps because of the Arab Spring, which had the attention of the whole world. Now I feel that the presence of Arab filmmakers has faded. As young female filmmakers from the Arab world, do you feel welcome?

Zain: At the Talents programme, I didn’t feel any discrimination or racism. On the contrary, it was clear that everyone was equal, even in the current turbulent political situation.

Fatima: Sudan has both Arab and African rivers, and I see myself as primarily an African filmmaker. Despite the Berlinale’s reputation as the festival hosting the most African cinema, there were no more than 10 African participants in the talent programme, which caught my attention. I think African cinema needs more representation.

Maria: I was in Germany two months ago, and I was nervous about mentioning that I was Palestinian, given the general situation at the time. Now I feel more confident, among this diverse group of artists from around the world.

The Burden of the Artist and the Country’s Cause

We come from a turbulent region of the world. Is this a flaw or an advantage for the artist? Is it raw material for films, or a burden of responsibility that the artist may not want to bear?

Maria: Most Palestinian films in the past, present and probably in the future will talk about the cause, directly or indirectly. Therefore, most of the roles I’ve played are related to the cause. Sometimes I get jealous, because I’d like to try different genres and roles, say a love story like one any human being could experience, even under the shadow of war and occupation. I hope I will be able to, but at the same time I understand that every artist carries his cause and his people wherever he goes.

Fatima: The idea is to try to make a film that’s close to your heart, about a topic you want to address. The short film I brought to the Talents programme is about a young Sudanese Muslim woman living in the United States. Her mother dies and she has to decide whether to allow her body to be washed in the Islamic manner or not. The topic isn’t Islamophobia or integration into American society, but rather the general human feelings we have when we lose someone we love. My dream is to help Sudanese filmmakers free themselves from the feeling that they have to make films to appeal to the interest of European funders and programmers.

Zain: I had a difficult experience with my first feature film, which I’m currently working on. It’s about mental illness, which is rare in films in the Arab world. I’ve found that there’s an expectation that Arab or Jordanian films talk about political and economic conditions, women’s rights, Palestine, and the other standard topics. But I’m trying to tell a story about a world I know.
Not all of us in the Arab region are living in war and extreme poverty. We live in different circumstances, we have our own stories, and not every film should be about a problem or trying to change a law. Cinema is a great tool for change, of course, but I also have the right to decide not to use it in that way. I want to make films about people, not about issues.

Fatima: By the way, even in countries that have huge film industries, like the United States and Britain, independent filmmakers still need to come to festivals like Berlin to look for funding for their films. This reassures me a little bit that this isn’t about my identity, but about everyone who wants to make cinema that differs from the norm, anywhere. What’s more, in the case of Sudan, is that there’s no cinematic heritage at all, and therefore everything is considered new. Even if some elements of stories are similar to other films, the Sudanese character and the country where the story takes place are still new on the screen. This increases the challenge for us as filmmakers, but it also opens up more doors.

Do you have any more comments about the Berlinale Talents experience or suggestions for the programme?

Zain: It bothered me a little that we were not allowed to enter the European Film Market at the peak times. The main goal was that we could meet the participants in the market. This wasn’t helped by only allowing us in there in the evening, after everyone had left.

Maria: During the “Dine and Shine” evening, we were only meant to move between three tables, and had to sit for a long time with the people who happened to be sitting next to us. If we had been able to move between more tables, this would have benefited participants more, and created more chances to make beneficial connections. I also think that the acting programme needed more than two days of workshops; they were very useful, but I felt that they were over too quickly.

Fatima: My comment is positive, about something this experience has shown me. You can make a plan, and imagine that you’ll benefit by meeting a specific person, but when you do, you’re disappointed. In contrast, during the programme, you’ll meet someone else who seems completely distant from you, but he’s able to help you in some way, perhaps by connecting you to someone he knows, or by introducing you to an actor. This is an unpredictable event and full of surprises, so you just have to keep your mind open and prepared.

February 2024