SAT-7 FESTIVAL CELEBRATES NEXT GENERATION OF STORYTELLERS
Budding young filmmakers and photojournalists from the Arab world had the opportunity to showcase their talents and share their stories at a festival in Egypt organised by SAT-7.
The Our Generation Festival was a collaboration between SAT-7’s Youth for an Enabling Society (YES) project and the Catholic Center for Cinema. Promoted through the YES project’s social media pages, the festival attracted 119 film submissions and 49 photographic entries from participants from Egypt, Yemen, Sudan, Morocco, Algeria, and Syria.
The shortlisted films and photographs were shown and discussed during the four-day festival last month, with prizes being awarded to the top three entrants in each category.
YES project lead Rafik George said the competition was about envisioning young people to participate in society through creative media that make an impact. “The works are really unique,” he said. “And I feel that we need this festival and others to show to youth that their art is effective and has an outcome that others need to see too.”
The organisers invited renowned figures, including famous actors, from the film and photography industries to participate in the festival. The event attracted widespread coverage in the Egyptian media.
POWERFUL STORIES
The filmmaking competition gave young people a platform to tell a story about anything that they wanted to highlight. One, called Abboud’s Dream, was about a young Palestinian man who lost his family during the ongoing war in Gaza, dreaming of beautiful days when the family gathered together during happy times. Another, called Zabbaleen Neighbourhood, featured the challenging yet surprisingly happy daily life of garbage collector families in Cairo.
The winning film was called I Hoped, directed by Osama Nabil Al-Qazzaz, about a young man named Rady who is traumatised by his father and is struggling to deal with his trauma alone.
Osama said the film had a message for parents about the impact of their words on their children’s lives, and also a message for young people. “The message for youth is that they need to overcome what they endured from their parents and seek life. They can escape the negativity that their parents thrust upon them and continue on their life journey.”
Osama said he appreciated the opportunity the festival provided for young talents to connect with audiences and filmmakers. “This festival by SAT-7 is unique in inviting movie makers to watch our films and give us feedback directly, and this is a rare opportunity not available in other festivals,” he said.
Rafik said that they were not expecting the high number of entries to the film competition, and that they hope the festival will strengthen the ongoing work of the YES project. “It was a surprise for us that young people were trying to find a window to express their talents. From here we expect there will be real interaction among youth and our project will grow on the ground and not just online,” he said.
The YES project is implemented by SAT-7 Egypt in partnership with Norwegian Mission Society (NMS) and supported by DIGNI. Click here to find out more about the YES project