The Imaginarium Films by producer Rula Nasser, a partner of the Arab Cinema Center (ACC), has witnessed a wide-range of activities during the past few months. The company is currently working on producing three films, in addition to the production services it has recently offered to Arab and International films and TV series that are being shot in Jordan.
The films that are currently being produced by the company are the documentary film project To See Jenin by Serene Alahmad and the film Inshallah It's A Boy - A Chapter From The Fabled Life Of Nawal, which is Jordanian director Amjad Al-Rasheed's debut feature that will begin filming next spring. Besides, the company is cooperating with the production house Beit Al Shawareb by producer Bassel Ghandour on producing the new film The Alley.
Recently, The Imaginarium Films offered its production services to European films and TV series that were shot in Jordan and Amman including the film Maya by French director Mia Hansen-Løve, the Swiss TV series The Team, season seven of the Swedish TV series Beck, in addition to the Arab film Scales by Shahad Ameen,starring Ashraf Barhom.
The Imaginarium Films was established in 2010 by Producer Rula Nasser with an aim to develop and produce globally appealing Arabic content. Nasser started her career in the film industry in 1999 working on several productions for the BBC and Discovery channels, as well as the well-known Australian TV series Survival. She later joined the Royal Film Commission - Jordan (RFC), where she worked with them for five years on the Filmmaker's Support Program.
With her wide experience in different fields of production, Nasser managed to produce more than six feature films in four years, which have participated in several prestigious festivals around the world. In 2011, The Last Friday was the first Jordanian film to screen at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), and Waiting for P.O.Box got selected in the Short Films Competition of the Cannes Film Festival in 2012. She was chosen by Variety magazine in 2012, as one of the top Ten Arab Producers to Watch.
Two years ago, Nasser produced the film My Love Awaits Me by the Sea by Mais Darwazah, which took part in over 30 film festivals including Toronto International Film Festival, Copenhagen Film Festival (CPH: DOX) and Dubai International Film Festival. In 2015, she co-produced her latest productions; Al Medina by Omar Shargawi and The Curve by Rifqi Assaf. She also worked as an executive producer on many regional and international films including Hany Abu Assad's Academy Award nominated feature Arab Idol (2015).
Organized by MAD Solutions in 2015, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) is an international promotional platform for Arab cinema as it provides the filmmaking industry with a professional window to connect with their counterparts from all over the world through a number of events that it organizes. The ACC also provides networking opportunities with representatives of companies and institutions specialized in co-production and international distribution, among others. The Center's activities vary between film market main wings, introduction and networking sessions for Arab and foreign filmmakers, welcome parties, as well as meetings with international organizations and festivals, and the issuance of the Arab Cinema Magazine to be distributed at the leading international film festivals and markets.
Furthermore, newsletter subscription is now available on the ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of the Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on the ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating at festivals, exclusive news on the Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from the ACC partners and their future projects.
The ACC also launched an English-language Arab Cinema Guide, available on its website, which is a comprehensive cinematic guide that comprises a variety of tools presented collectively for the first time to offer information on Arab cinema to filmmakers inside and outside of the Arab world. It also aims to facilitate filmmakers' access to international markets and help film industry representatives to easily identify Arab film productions.
Since the beginning of 2017, the ACC has made 18 stops at international festivals and markets. The festivals attended are the International Film Festival of Rotterdam (IFFR), Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), Beirut Cinema Platform (BCP) held within the Beirut Cinema Days, Istanbul Film Festival, Tripoli Film Festival, the 34th WIPO SCCR in Geneva, Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Eurasia International Film Festival, Festival del film Locarno, Venice International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Film and Television Careers Connection (FTCC), San Sebastian International Film Festival, Malmo Arab Film Festival, Cape Town International Film Market & Festival (CTIFMF), Days of Cinema in Palestine and the MedFilm Festival in Italy.
