Latakia-SANA
The Flickrs International Short Film Festival in its first edition has reached its last stop by announcing the names of the winning films in it, with the participation of 387 films from 27 countries around the world.
The festival, which was hosted by Al-Kindi Cinema in Lattakia, was held by the Young Chamber International - Lattakia in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the General Film Organization with the aim of supporting young people who are passionate about cinema and spreading its culture capable of influencing and changing societies and highlighting short films that are no less important than their long films in terms of content and presentation. .
Based on setting a criterion based on the originality of the idea and the special artistic form adopted by the director of the film to express it, the committee chose four films in the first three places, which are “Potito” from Egypt by director Mohamed El-Badry, who won the first place and the golden award, and the second place award went equally to the two action films from Algeria “White” Night” by director Essam Tashit and “Bridge” by Shawki Boukaf, while the film “Invisible Once” from Egypt by director Shehab Abdel Hafez won third place, while the Flickr Award for the festival went to the film Hamzat Wasl by director Batoul Jadid from Syria.
Asaad Azhari, the local vice president of the Lattakia Chamber, said in a statement to SANA reporter that the festival, whose films vary between documentary, fiction and movement, and comes in partnership with Basamat Company for Building, Cladding and Decoration Works, is directed to the creative youth of visual content makers who have not yet had their chance in the cinema sector.
For her part, the director of the project at the Chamber, Rama Tabba, indicated that an evaluation and initial viewing committee specialized in the field of cinema chose the participating films according to the stated criteria and conditions, including a commitment to a period not exceeding 15 minutes for the film in addition to the message it carries and the technical level.
Tabba pointed out that the festival administration was keen to have the jury from different countries in addition to the host country Syria, where it was chaired by director Basil Al-Khatib, film critic Dr.
Director of Latakia Culture Majd Sarem affirmed the ministry’s keenness through its institutions, especially the Cinema Foundation, to provide all support for the success of festivals concerned with the cinematic creations of young people, with the presence of a high-level jury headed by the Dean of the Higher Institute of Cinematic Arts, director Basil Al-Khatib, in addition to an important Arab presence and a great effort by the Young Chamber International - Lattakia within the framework of joint action to give an opportunity for creative youth to hone their expertise and develop their tools so that in the near future we will have high-level directors.
For her part, the participation in the festival, which received the award of Batoul Jadid for her film Hamzat Wasl, produced by the Cinema Foundation, praised the existence of festivals that allow young people to present their cinematic visions to the public. She thanked the Cinema Foundation for the grants it provides, which allow young people to make their films, which constitutes a supportive and first step in the world of the seventh art.
JCI Syria was established in 2004 under the supervision of the International Chamber of Commerce and currently includes 7 local chambers, including JCI Lattakia, which was established in 2008 and has about 200 members and carries out various projects within the four work areas of individuals, society, business and international.
Fatima Nasser
