To accompany it in over 20 international film festivals and markets in 2017, promoting Arab cinema, the Arab Cinema Center (ACC) has revealed the news on adding the Festival Internacional de Cine Latino Árabe (LatinArab International Film Festival) and the LatinArab Coproduction Forum to its list of partners.
Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, Co-founder of Arab Cinema Center and CEO of MAD Solutions, comments on this step saying, "The joining of LatinArab International Film Festival and the LatinArab Coproduction Forum to the Center's partners is an important step in line with the objectives of the Center in spreading Arab cinema worldwide through providing new opportunities for production and distribution. This partnership with the forum comes after the collaboration between ACC and the forum since its first edition last year, that we expect to continue for a long time."
Edgardo Bechara El Khoury, Executive Director of the LatinArab International Film Festival also comments, "Becoming a member of the Arab Cinema Center is a source of great pride for us and an opportunity to continue to pursue our main objective, to strengthen cultural and audiovisual South-South cooperation through the cinematographic scene."
Christian Mouroux, Artistic Director of the LatinArab International Film Festival and Director of the LatinArab Coproduction Forum says, "We are certain that, thanks to the collaboration of the Arab Cinema Center we shall further encourage Latin Arab co-productions, which our festival has fostered from the beginning."
The LatinArab International Film Festival is considered as the sole festival in the region that connects Latin America to the Arab world through cinema, in addition to being the main tool of cultural exchange between the two regions. Through regular competitions and screenings, the festival celebrates the diversity of voices and the abundance of innovative windows that open up to the real lives of people, society and cities through cinema that dreams of the reality of the two regions and portrays it in ways ranging from sharpness to clarity and poeticism.
LatinArab Coproduction Forum seeks to contribute to the development of joint film production between Latin American and Arab world. This includes films in the development and post-production phases, which have the potential to be included in the joint production process between the two sides.
The Arab Cinema Center (ACC), organized by MAD Solutions for the third year, 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. 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 available on ACC's website, allowing users to obtain digital copies of Arab Cinema Magazine, as well as news on ACC's activities, notifications of application dates for grants, festivals and offers from educational and training institutions, updates on Arab films participating in festivals, exclusive news on Arab Cinema LAB, and highlights from ACC partners and their future projects.
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 ten 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, 34th WIPO SCCR in Geneva, Cannes Film Festival, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Eurasia International Film Festival, and Festival del film Locarno.
