It’s D-DAY! Cinemoz at Arabnet 2012: A Week of Groundbreaking Announcements.

Hello Mozers,

As the 2012 Arabnet Summit kicks off tomorrow, we wanted to let you all know how excited we were, and that you should be ready for quite an exceptional week for Cinemoz, Arab film lovers, Tech enthusiasts and Entrepreneurs. 

Here’s a sneak peek at what we have under the hood for the week to come: 

Cinemoz has been selected as an Arabnet Startup Demo finalist, amongst the best 10 Startups of the Arab World, and will be present throughout the entire summit!

1. Feel free to drop by our uber-cool booth!

From March 27th to 31st, You’ll get to be fully immersed in the Cinemoz  experience at its best, via our cutting edge set-up, entirely powered by the latest Samsung top line products. 

Stop by to watch a movie on Cinemoz, have a banana cupcake, or hang out with the entire team who’ll answer all of your questions and even crack some jokes for you. 

2. Join us on Thursday March 29th at 1.00PM for the official Cinemoz Start Demo Pitch! 

CEO Karim Safieddine will be on stage for what will be the most groundbreaking announcement since the Cinemoz launch and first ever news for a young Arab startup.

3. Get to learn all about the technology behind the Moz! 

Follow Maroun Najm, Cinemoz Chief Technology Officer and co-founder, who will be sharing insights about our platform’s technology and VOD development, as well as participating in key workshops throughout the conference. 

Let’s all gather for a week of exciting happenings, groundbreaking news and another great chapter of the Cinemoz story. 

Looking forward to sharing all the fun with you, 

The Cinemoz Team of Monkeys. 

Follow Cinemoz Announcements and Updates at Arabnet:

 #CinemozLive

facebook.com/cinemoz

Taxi el Ballad – Cinemoz review

When you enjoy a film that doesn’t really have a plot, it must be a really pleasant film to watch, because that means that everything else must have been good enough to make up for the missing story line. That was the case with Taxi el Ballad. And I think it is a reflection of the life of many Lebanese. We live life, there isn’t a story there but the things that happen every day are just too remarkable (or we make them so) that we can’t ignore, and somehow enjoy it, despite the downsides and obstacles that we face.

And that in itself is a story, which is why the film was so enjoyable.

In the film we see Youssef’s story, who leaves his village in order to pursue a life as a cab driver in the city of Beirut, finds and loses love, and learns everything he needs to know about life just by the customers in his taxi. Since the characters of Beirut are only too well known, it is only natural that all the taxi drivers in Lebanon receive the same education, as if they all graduated from the same university of Lebanese philosophy.

And that is why they are part of Beirut culture. They are the source of all the gossip,they know people’s worries, their characters, their secrets; all this while they keep the daily life of the city literally moving.

There are many underlying messages. Youssef’s struggles to settle his life, the characters which he surrounds himself by, the comedy and tragicomedy that comes across us in his daily life, were depicted through cases that were common to our culture. The answer to our problems as it is to Youssef was always Beirut.

The most enjoyable aspects of the film were the flashbacks, returning to the typical Lebanese village in the mountains, a picturesque view with the red roof tops and green windows; and most of all the comical view of the village people we only know too well,though they were sometimes overdone; the Mokhtar, the invincible Carlo, the prudish older women and the eligible young ladies. Youssef as a young boy stealing money from the Virgin Mary, Carlo’s “Samson” strength and how his heart was broken by a girl who was in love with a violinist, provided comical turns for the film, the old butcher who was still alive when Youssef returns to the village, after 30 years of claiming he was near his grave.

Technically, it is surprisingly well made, and well edited. Script-wise, though there was no plot-line, it was very faithful to the Lebanese daily talk and forms of expression, and without an actual story, it makes the viewer feel that they are just observing the daily life of an ordinary man, rather than watching a film. Character development could have been better, at certain points it felt that the film was trying to impose a portrayal of Youssef that did not really match the disposition he represented.

All in all, it is a joy to watch, though the film shows the contradictions of Lebanese society. As his constant friend throughout the film Jordan, the American sports trainer who saw in Youssef what others did not, believes that Lebanese are a conformist society who call “for progress by day and then piss on the wall at night.

Taxi el Ballad

- Director: Daniel Joseph

- Starring: Talal-el Jordi, Hiam Abou Chedid

- Release Date: March 2012

Film Web links:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1754578/

https://www.facebook.com/Taxiballad

The Cinemoz 10 short films of the week, and why you should watch them:

While we’re on the topic of short films this week, here are ten-picked Cinemoz titles and what we thought of them.

1.  Van Express by Elie Khalife

Director’s synopsis: Iyad and Tarek have an old VW van and are desperate to make money. One day, they find an original way to put the van at use.

A comedy on the irony of trying to save business in Beirut is a double edge sword.

2. Lovelock by Rayane Smayra

Director’s synopsis: Separation, solitude, treason…What is an object in this woman’s life?

An enjoyable, romantic short with two main charming actors and Abdel Halim’s voice in the soundtrack

3. The Mouse and the visitor man murdered in my clothes by Marc Sayegh

Director’s synopsis: Man in the forty-year-old back to his home after an absence of a month, and after reading an article in the newspaper that the man who had taken over his home had been killed.

An interesting short film with an abstract and ironic edge

4. La Fille à Cent Sous by Chadi Aoun

Director’s synopsis:  When he bought her, he was sure she had all the right curves in the right places.

Amusing and fun caricature on a man’s fantasy of his perfect woman

5. The Mill by Rami Kodeih

Ali and Kamal are two close cousins despite their opposed personalities. Ali is a dreamer and Kamal is a macho. They go to spend one day in the nature near an abandoned mill in their native South Lebanon. During their trip, their rapport de force slowly unfolds.

It moves at a slow pace, but provides an interesting perception on the relationship of the two boys and their differing characters. The macabre moments that contrast with the quiet nature bring out unexpected result.

6. Chakib by Marc Sayegh

Director’s synopsis: “Chakib, twenty year old young man, found himself out of nowhere, in the middle of a folkloric dance during the shooting of a movie about his village. Awaiting the projection date, Chakib started spreading the news of his “special” appearance all around the place.”

A comedic view of the village life through the eyes of the main character, and more importantly of himself

7. Walking Distance by Shirin Abu Shaqra

Director’s synopsis: One night, Flou’adi’s dreams are so intense and the night so odd that he loses his head. When he wakes up, he searches in vain for his head…

A film that needs to be watched more than once; the messages are many, whether subtle or observable.

8. Selda by Reine Razzouk

Director’s synopsis: A young woman. A grandmother. Three men. Sex, Reality or Fantasy?

A very abstract, remarkable view of a relationship between a woman and her grandmother.

9. Miracle by Georges Homsy

Director’s synopsis: Jad a 27 years old charismatic Lebanese guy, is called in the hall of the American embassy in Cyprus in 1998 to translate for the non-speaking Lebanese visa appliers. Will it be a success? Will this help him to obtain his own visa?”

A dark comedy on the usual experiences Lebanese face at the American Embassy

10. Faim de Communication

Director’s synopsis:“In a Beirut apartment, two girlfriends wander around, confronting each other with unspoken words. The two girls break the wall of silence with every human emotions: confusion, desire, violence, appetite, bravery, ecstasy, happiness and hate.”

Experimental short worth watching

The Skyrocketing rise in Arab short films: is it only temporary?

Along with the sweeping changes that have occurred throughout the Middle East last year, the Arab Cinema has also experienced an upheaval and proved to be a turning point for the presence of Arabic films throughout  international festivals. Arab Festivals are popping out in cities all over the world, and the budding interest may have something to do with exploring the growing possibilities of liberty in expression that seems to be new ground for millions of people.

In general, though the number of Arabic feature films produced in the last year has increased significantly; short films have become highly appealing around the World, as they seem to pinpoint strong messages to the audience that feature films don’t capture as strongly. Since the upheavals of “The Arab Spring”, activists on the streets have turned into filmmakers, depicting their experiences on the streets and the impact of political change on individuals and families. This new trend, while exciting for some, particularly the youth who see this opportunity as a new medium for self-expression, is still fragile territory for traditional filmmakers, who are questioning the type of “cinema” this movement might create.

Fuad Helwani, an LAU graduate, is a young filmmaker who sees this change as essential to society. He believes that “cinema is becoming decentralized in the sense that more and more people are being able to make film. All the digital media transfer of videos, images, and voice clips is making the filmmaking open for the public. This to me is very important especially with the rise of the digital filmmaking which, by essentially being cheaper than traditional cinema, is giving more and more people the opportunity to express themselves with film.”

He believes that short films today are taking the style of the streets; that content is being focused on more than appearance. With their shaky cameras and improvised style in shooting, “these films are showing the true fervor of the current situation in the Arab World”.

Not all share this opinion. Elie Berbary, a film director in Lebanon, says he prefers film features to shorts, as it takes much more work and cannot simply be done by anyone who holds a camera.

“The main problem in Lebanon when it comes to making a feature is the lack of producers willing to sponsor Lebanese films. Short films can have great ideas, and for trained filmmakers, it is easier to send a straight-forward message through short films, since the financial issues are much easier to deal with. For untrained filmmakers, who have been inspired to create short films due to their changing surroundings politically, they do sometimes have strong cultural or political message, but in terms of technical aspects, like light, sound, camera, there is a great lacking in this area in most films that we watch.”

From Elie’s standpoint, he has spent years slowly and meticulously preparing for what he considers to be the “first real action film to be made in Lebanon”. He had filmed a demo, and is gathering sponsors and finance’s for his dream project. But it is a slow process, while admitting that the recent changes have been significant, due to the freedom that Arab short films have created in self-expression, particularly in politics, the “Arab, particularly, Lebanese cinema still has a long way to go”.

The idea that not just the Lebanese, but the Arab Cinema industry has still not found itself; that it is still somewhat confused, is the same opinion found among many others in this domain, as director Hani Khashfeh describes his view, yet he believes that the film industry in the Arab world has not changed at all. He regards short films to be a sort of platform of experience for Arabs to later on move towards proper feature films.

“A feature is more detailed, but everything starts with the well-written script, as most of movies we watch are not well-written, while some short films have ideas that should be made into features.”

His comments refer to the technical differences in shorts and features, and why shorts are a much more popular platform for Arab filmmakers. First of all there is a much smaller budget, which allows more focus on the message of the film, and no necessary obligation to please sponsors; therefore it creates an independent culture on its own. The creative process in itself to work on such projects gives a lot of inspiration that expands possibilities and ideas today more so than in the past.

Ceremony Manager of the Beirut Film Festival, Rosy El Beainy, who has kept track of all the films being submitted over the last few years, believes that there is a promising future for filmmakers in the region, where new genres of movies are coming out, a strong significant push in documentaries and thrillers, rather than just sticking to comedy or drama.

“There is a nice kind of competition between movie-makers. They are encouraged by their peers to make something significant out of the possibilities that are now available. The quality of the images and technicalities are better, as well as the directing and the script, because people are more focused on creating films that are closer to the reality we know as Lebanese.”

But one question not a lot of people have answered, or even asked. What is the future of Arabic Cinema?

As the region is still in a transitory period, rising fundamentalism is a source of worry for the outcome that will be produced on the region culturally and artistically. In Egypt, the motherland of Arabic cinema, Naguib Mahfouz’s literature, some of which have been turned to features, are now being debated for censorship, and in Tunisia, where Franco-Tunisian documentary filmmaker Nadia El Fani’s film ‘Ni Allah, ni Maître’ (Nor God, nor Master, 2011) on laicism was banned and the director exiled by Islamic fundamentalists, bring up many questions, none of which can now be answered.

When asked about this matter, Rozy elegantly withdraws the thin cigarette she holds and grins,

“Sara7atan (Honestly), they will delay it, but not stop it. Films and TV are becoming much more liberated than we expect, with kissing and lovemaking scenes existing more than it ever was before. And people have just found their voice to express their pain worries due to politics. They won’t let anyone take that away from them in a hurry. Don’t take too lightly the power of cinema. It gives much more freedom today than it can be controlled.”

An example for this is “Beirut Hotel”. Due to its censorship last year for a line in the script that was used concerning the assassination of Former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, it created eagerness among everyone to watch it. When it was aired in Lebanon from abroad, millions of Lebanese watched it for the simple reason of the censorship. It wasn’t a popular film and was heavily criticized due to the quality of the script and acting, but it did show that censorship doesn’t quite work the way the authorities want it to, particularly when sex is involved.

In Fuad’s words “Cinema will always be cinema, no matter how much persecution, intolerance, or suppression, don’t underestimate cinema.”

Hope he’s right.

Figure of the month - Faten Hamama:

In order to do justice to ‘Women’s month’ we cannot not pay homage to a long-standing figure in Arabic cinema, often referred to as the ‘Face of Egypt’ and ‘The Lady of the Arab Screen.

The “Audrey Hepburn” of the Egyptian Cinema; a pioneer in the Egyptian cinema and changed the way women were portrayed, refusing to take on roles that portrayed women as sex symbols.

She was mostly known at the start of her career for her romance films, where she fell in love and got married to Omar Sharif. One of their most memorable films together was “Nahr el Hob” (River of Love); an Arabic version of Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”.

Her political views towards democracy and human rights led to her being harassed by the Secret Service, which led to her leaving Cairo for Beirut on many occasions.

Though a lot of her films had pro-democracy nuances, many had to do with women issues in Egyptian society. For example, one of her most significant films, “Oridu Hallan” (I Need a Solution), criticized the laws governing marriage and divorce in Egypt. After the film, the Egyptian government eliminated a law that forbade wives from divorcing their husbands, thus allowing Khul’.

It’s all about the women this month at Cinemoz. In honor of upcoming events celebrating the fairer sex, we have introduced a set of Cinemoz-Titles for you to watch. Here are some of our picks

12 angry Lebanese: An introduction to the self healing journey of adult male inmates through drama therapy, led by Zeina Daccache.

Why we picked it: Zeina Daccache, a female actress and director is a pioneer in drama therapy for criminal reform, has raised critical awareness on conditions that were previously unspoken of,and created a path of reform for former criminals.

Maid in Lebanon (parts 1 and two): In part 1, director Carol Mansour follows the journey of female domestic workers into Lebanon from their homeland continued by part 2, where she films from the perspective of Lebanese families, and their different views towards female domestic workers.

Why we picked it: Carol Mansour is a female award winning director who focuses mostly on human rights matters. Her films investigate sensitive topics in Lebanese society, from covering human and civil rights matters that are controversial, such as refugees or the reality of the lives of domestic workers.

 Selda: A short film about a woman woman, her grandmother, 3 men… A film by Reine Razzouk

Why we picked it: A short, abstract but rather interesting perspective on the relationship between a woman and her grandmother. Three men enter the scene; is it a sexual fantasy? Or reality?

Ahawa: Portrayal of the Arab woman’s dance for life in post-war Beirut

Why we picked it: The short is interesting as it is a form of celebration for the Arab woman’s freedom and her dance of life; a perspective from a male director, Chadi Aoun.

Lovelock: A pleasant-to-watch short film by Rayane Smayra, that revolves around a woman facing betrayal and a broken heart.

Why we picked it: Revolves around something that most women can relate to and it is always wonderful to have a taste of Abdel Halim’s voice in any romantic film.

Kfarmatta, forbidden village: Follow a young director’s brave attempt to film a bittersweet journey that attempts to understand and resolve the pain in her family and their return into a village she had never entered before then

Why we picked it: Another short filmmaker Mirna Mounayar, who tackles a difficult subject while filming her family’s return to their village. A personal journey to tell, in particular while filming her mother.