The short film “Douma Underground” directed by Tim Alsiofi, edited by Quitaiba Barhamji and produced by Bidayyat received the Best Documentary and Amnesty International awards at the 17th edition of IndieLisboa Festival in Portugal.   From the jury of the Short Film International Competition: “Faced with an unthinkable situation of terror, many escape or surrender to simplistic considerations or to a journalistic summary. The director of this film takes his post and uses the... more

The short film “Douma Underground” directed by Tim Alsiofi and produced by Bidayyat is selected to be part of 2020 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto which was scheduled for April 30-May 10, 2020. The Industry side of the festival will be moving online and the project will be included in the 2020 Hot Docs Doc Shop. For more info, please check this link

The short film “Douma Underground” directed by Tim Alsiofi, edited by Quitaiba Barhamji and produced by Bidayyat received a Special Mention for the Best Documentary Award at the 24th edition of REGARD Festival - International short film festival in Saguenay, Canada.   From the jury of the official competition: “A powerful film that shows us alternative images of a war zone. We have seen a lot of images through media coverage, but... more

"Introduction to Animation" workshop organized by Bidayyat and under the supervision of Lina Ghaibeh ended last week, where the participants made this humorous short stop-motion video titled "Zahle cures Corona"

The short film “Douma Underground” directed by Tim Alsiofi will have 2 screenings at the International Short Film Competition of the 3rd edition of Filmfest Sundsvall in Sweden that will take place from March 11 to 15, 2020. Wednesday March 11 at 10:45am Thursday March 12 at 15:15pm For more info about the screenings and tickets, please follow this link   The short film will have another Screenings at the Official Competition of the 24th edition of... more

This is the third part of a series of online videos introducing different aspects of documentary filmmaking. This series aims at creating a better understanding of creative documentaries and giving tools to aspiring documentary filmmakers to develop their practice. This third part explores, over several episodes, the set of choices and tools that define a film style and approach. the first episode is about the choice of the appropriate camera according to the... more

“Douma Underground” by Tim Alsiofi and “I Have Seen Nothing I Have Seen All” by Yaser Kassab to be screened at the 17th edition of London Short Film Festival in the section Documentary: Common vulnerabilities. The festival runs between January 10 and 19, 2020, and the two films will be screened on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 7:00pm. For more info about the screening halls and tickets, please visit this link

The workshop will take place in Beirut, for 5 non-consecutive days, on the 24-26-28-29 February and 1 March 2020. During which the participants will learn about different animation techniques, and animate a short sequence of their creation.    The main trainer will be Prof. Lina Ghaibeh, an animation, illustration and comics artist living in Beirut. Lina is a full time faculty in the graphic design program, department of architecture and design, at the... more

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts is pleased to announce the Dutch premiere of the short film “I Have Seen Nothing, I Have Seen All” directed by Yaser Kassab at the “International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam”. The festival runs in Amsterdam between November 20 and December 1, and the premiere will take place on Friday, November 22nd at 8:00pm   The film has 3 screenings: Monday, 25th of November at 4:15pm Tuesday, 26th of November at 2:45pm Thursday, 28th... more

“Douma Underground” directed by Tim Alsiofi will have 2 screenings at the International Competition of the 23nd edition of Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur in Switzerland. On Thursday 7th and Friday 8th of November. For more info about the screenings and tickets, please follow this link   The film will have another Screening at the International Competition of the 61th edition of ZINEBI (The International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao) in Spain. On Saturday 9th... more

“Still Recording” will be screened at Syrian Doc Days (running from 4th to 8th of September).   For more info about the films, the screenings and tickets, please follow this link.

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts is pleased to announce the world premiere of the short film “Douma that al ard” by Tim Alsiofi, at the international competition of the 72nd edition of the Locarno Film Festival. The festival runs in Switzerland between August 7 and 17, and the premiere will take place on the 8th of August at 14:00. The film has another 2 screenings; on the 9th of August, at 17:00 and on the... more

After its Arabic premiere at Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco, “Still Recording” is selected to be screened at Cairo Cinema Days 3 (running from 10 to 19 April), on April 13th at 4:30 pm. For tickets, please visit this link. For more info about the films and the screenings, please follow this link.  

“Still Recording” won the “Golden Moon/ Lune D’or” for best film after its screening at the feature competition of the 7eme Lune Festival International du Film de Rennes in France.  The film was screened on March 24, the last day of the festival in which many short, feature and animated films were screened. This French award comes before "Still Recording” premiere in the French Cinemas on Wednesday, 27th of March.    

At the 43rd Hong Kong International Film Festival, “Still Recording” has two screenings in the “Documentary Competition” on Wednesday 27th of March, and Saturday 30 at “Hong Kong Arts- Centre Louis Koo Cinema". The festival ends on the 1st of April. To buy the tickets, please visit this link.      

In the section of “New Possibilities”, “Still Recording” is screened in the 12th One World Romania festival, on Sunday 17th of March at 18:30. Another screening follows on Sunday 25th of March. The festival runs from March 15 to 27 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. For tickets, please follow this link.   On Friday 22nd of March, Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub’s film will have a screening in the 24th Vilnius... more

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts is pleased to announce the premiere of the short film “I have seen nothing, I have seen all” by Yaser Kassab, at the international competition (medium and short films) of the 50th edition of Vision Du Reel. The festival runs in Switzerland between April 5 and 13, and the premiere will take place on the 6th of April at 13:45, followed by a discussion with the director. The... more

The US premiere of “Still Recording” takes place in the “42nd Portland International Film Festival”, on March 13 (8:30 pm), in the section of “Documentary Views”. The festival runs from the 7th to the 21st of March in Portland, in the state of Oregon.  Another screening follows on March 20th.   For more information on the screenings and tickets, please visit this link.

“The Secret of Raindrops”, Dima Nachawi’s first short animation film, will be screened at 3rd Indian World Film Festival, in the city of Hyderabad, India, on March 10 with a series of short and feature films.   This is the second Indian festival in which “The Secret of Raindrops” is screened, after participating in Bangalore short film festival last year.    

“Still Recording” has been selected to participate in the official documentary competition at the 9th edition of Luxembourg City Film Festival. The festival runs from March 7th to 17th.   The film will have 3 screenings, two with English subtitles on 9th of March (9 pm) and 14th (2 pm) and one screening with French subtitles on the 10th (7:30). Click here for more info about the screening venues and the tickets.

Before starting its screenings in the French Cinema Halls starting on March 27th, “Still recording” participates in two documentary film festivals in Croatia and Switzerland. On February 27th, the screening of “Still Recording” takes place in the official competition of the 15th edition of ZagrebDox (February 27- March 3) in Croatia. Two other screenings at this festival will take place on the first and second of March 2019. You can see the... more

At the end of January, “Still Recording” by Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub is participating in two festivals in Sweden and Finland in North Europe.   On January 25th, “Still Recording” has its first screening at Goteborg Film Festival, Sweden, in the section of “Five Continents”. This screening is followed by three others on January 26th and 30, and on February 2nd. At the same time, Al Batal and Ayoub’s film takes... more

The Arab premiere of “Still Recording” will take place in the 17th edition of the International Film Festival-Marrakech (Morocco) which kicked off last week. The film will be screened in the section named “11th continent” with other 13 films from all over the world. The first screening is on Friday 7th of December  at 8 pm (Morocco Time) in the Museum Yves Saint Laurent. A Second screening will take place on Saturday 8th of December at... more

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts announces the launch of the OPEN CALL of its first “Feature Doc Development Lab” for Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian filmmakers, working on their first or second feature or mid-length documentary.   The development lab is a mentorship program held in 3 sessions over a period of 6 months. It is a blend of creative mentorship, story development, practical resources, & networking opportunities with film professionals who will guide filmmakers through... more

The fourth intensive documentary workshop has ended at the same time with the editing workshop. The total number of participants was 16.   Eight participants from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine got a 6month intensive workshop on technical and theoretical skills in documentary filmmaking, and every participant worked on his own short film. Professionals in directing, filming, and editing supervised the workshop, in collaboration with the Scottish Documentary Institute.     The training has started with... more

  The German Premiere of “Still Recording” by Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub will be in “Around the World in 14 films”, the World Cultural Festival around the world (22/November-01/December).   In the section of “Berlinale Spotlight: World Cinema Fund”, the first screening of “Still Recording” will take place on Sunday 25th of November at 7 pm, and the second one on Tuesday 27th at 7:15 in the cinema in the KulturBrauerei.   You can... more

“Still Recording” got a special mention from the Jury of Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival. The film was screened on Monday in the section of “A testimony on politics”.   The Jury’s statement: The jury would like to award the special mention to the film, Still Recording. The image provides protection against lies and the course of time. The film is exceptional not only in depicting a war wrecking the heart of the... more

Three films produced by Bidayyat 2018 to be screened at Jihalva International Documentary Film Festival taking place between October 25th and 30 at Czech Republic. “Resurrection”, Orwa Mokdad’s new film will be screened in the festival on Friday 26th at 10 pm, after its premiere at Doc Lisboa this week. After Venice and Chile, Jihlava screens “Still Recording” by Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub on Sunday 28th at 11 pm. Zaina Erhaim’s... more

The World Premiere of the short documentary “Resurrection”by director Orwa Mokdad (produced by Bidayyat 2018), will be at the international Competition at Doc Lisboa (16 Festival International De Cinema), Lisbon-Portugal.   The premiere will be on the 23rd of October at 21:45, and the second screening will take place on the 25th at 14:00. The synopsis of the film: Three years after the Lebanese General Security confiscated his passport, a filmmaker, returning from... more

We are glad to announce that the “Best International Feature Film” prize of Chile 25th film festival (FIC Valdivia 2018) was awarded to “Still recording” by Saeed Al Batal & Ghiath Ayoub.   This was the film’s American Screening which followed the world premiere in Venice, winning five awards at the Film Critics’ week.   Congratulations to the whole team!

From Europe to Latin-America, “Still Recording” travels to Chile for its International Premiere (American Premiere) at the official competition of “Valdivia International Film Festival” on the 8th of October.   The 25th edition of the festival starts on the 8th of October and ends on the 14th, after screening dozens of short and feature films from all over the world.   “Still Recording” by Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoun is still screening in... more

Five awards were granted in Venice International Critics’ Week to congratulate three years of hard and amazing work of two directors, Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub, and the whole team of “Still Recording”. We are proud and extremely happy to announce that the festival’s audience appreciated the work, first, by their standing ovation following the screening, and then in getting the “Audience Award”, the main prize of the Venice International... more

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts announces the launch of the OPEN CALL for the “Documentary Film Editing Workshop” for Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinians (residing in Syria and Lebanon) editors, directors, and audiovisual graduates, interested in creative documentaries.   8 participants will be offered the opportunity to follow a practical and theoretical, hands-on intensive training for 17 days, during which they will edit a short documentary film in addition to theoretical sessions and films screening and analysis... more

In its world premiere in Locarno film festival’s competition: “Filmmakers of the present”, Sara Fattahi’s film “Chaos” (which got Bidayyat’s grant for documentary films) won the Golden Leopard for best film.   Three Syrian women, each living in a different place, are separated by the very things that unite them: fear and trauma. One lives in Damascus and has stopped speaking to others entirely, isolating herself in her apartment and seeking solace in silence... more

With a Camera shooting and documenting in besieged Ghouta and Doma,  Saeed Al Batal and Ghiath Ayoub begin their first international journey with their feature-length documentary “Still Recording” (Produced by Bidayyat-2018) to 33th Venice International Film Critics’ Week.   The film is selected with other six international films from South Africa, Germany, France, Italy, Montenegro, and Qatar  to enter the official competition starting from 29th of August and ends on 8th of... more

After its premiere in Europe and Africa, Milad Amin and Ghith Beram’s “Land of Doom” (produced by Bidayyat) will have its Lebanese premiere at the 3rd edition of Karama Beirut Human Rights Film Festival. The film’s screening take place on Friday, 20th of July, between 6 and 7:30 pm at Metropolis Sofil Cinema.   “Land of Doom” depicts the last days of Eastern Aleppo’s siege and before its fall, when Milad, residing in Beirut,... more

Bidayyat is starting to receive ideas for research articles, to be published on its website in the “Article” page. The articled can start from multiple proposals related to cinema critique and analysis, documentary cinema, its production, and genres, critical readings of certain films, ethics of cinematic images, and the problematics of representing reality.   To look at previous articles, please visit this page: http://bidayyat.org/ar/opinions.php?category=1#.WxfB94iFPIU   For those interested in writing, please send a clear idea to... more

We are delighted to announce that Dima Nachawi’s new animation film “The Secret of the Raindrops”, produced by Bidayyat 2018, has been selected in the official selection of the 7th Bangalore Shorts Film Festival in India. The festival took place on Sunday, 17th June in Bangalore city in India.   The Secrets of the Raindrops”, tells the story of Lana that goes through a journey to reveal the destiny of her mother who disappears... more

Zaina Erhaim’s short film “I was here” won its first award, the Best Documentary Award at Top shorts, the world's leading online film festival. This festival showcases outstanding short films from around the world to an audience of film fans and filmmakers.   Produced by Bidayyat in 2018, “I was here” shows the filmmaker’s return to her hometown, Idlib, in 2015 after it fell in the hands of Al Fateh army which... more

This week, Talal Khoury won his second award for best cinematographer of the film “Taste of Cement” (by Ziad Kalthoum) at the 28th filmkunstfest in Germany. The first cinematographer prize was awarded in Global Cinema Film Festival of Boston early this year. “Taste of Cement” won more than 22 awards over the world. Talal Khoury started his career in cinematography since 2006. He worked in many films such as “Sector Zero” by... more

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts in collaboration with Scottish Documentary Institute (SDI) announces the launch of the OPEN CALL of its fourth intensive training program “Introduction to Documentary Film Directing” for emerging Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian (residing in Syria and Lebanon) filmmakers.   8 participants will be offered the opportunity to follow a practical and theoretical, hands-on intensive training. The emerging talents must demonstrate interest in arts and film and must have the desire... more

Cairo Cinema Days-2 kicks off on the beginning of next week and continues until the end of the month. Bidayyat participates in the festival with two films: “Land of Doom” and “Taste of Cement” After its world premiere in Berlin, the short film “Land of Doom”, directed by Milad Amin and Ghaith Beram, goes to the Egyptian Capital, to be screened on the opening day: 23rd of April, 7 pm at Cinemaque. Ziad... more

  This is the first part of a series of online videos introducing different aspects of documentary filmmaking. This series aims at creating a better understanding of creative documentaries and giving tools to aspiring documentary filmmakers to develop their practice.   In this video, Prof. Noe Mendelle, founder and director of the Scottish Documentary Institue, gives a general introduction to what creative documentaries are and what differentiate them from reportages and factual programmes. 

After its international premiere last month in Berlinale, “Land of Doom” visits Madrid to have its Spanish Premiere at DOCUMenta Madrid. The festival will kick off on the 3rd of May and ends on the 13th.   DOCUMENTAMADRID is a festival organised by the Madrid City Council and dedicated to multiple expressions of documentary film and the search for itineraries of the reality that are open to the genre’s new languages and... more

After more than 20 awards worldwide, “Taste of Cement” by Ziad Kalthoum won two awards at the 8th international competition of UNAM- FICUNAM- in the city of Mexico. Taste of Cement got “Best Film Silver Puma”(one of the two main awards of the competition),  in addition to the Audience Award. This festival, that took place between 28th of February and 6th of March this year, has started in 2011 at the city... more

On February 18th, Milad Amin and Ghaith Berem’s “Land of Doom”, depicting the last days of Eastern Aleppo’s siege, will have its World Premiere at  Berlinale Forum Expanded. The screening will take place at Akademie der Künste (E) at 14:00.   Another screening of the film will follow the world premiere on 19th of February at 17:45, in Kino Arsenal 1 (E) Hall. For tickets info: https://www.berlinale.de/en/programm/tickets/index.html   Produced in 2018 by Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts in... more

In the film “Taste of Cement”, the director Ziad Kalthoum and the DOP Talal Khoury focus on the difficult lives of the Syrian workers who are building a skyscraper in Beirut, while their houses are being destroyed in Syria. Through a special visual and cinematic language, they show the suffering and the tragedy of these workers.   With the launch of the film globally at Visions Du Reel, 10 months ago, and... more

"Bidayyat" in collaboration with "Rosl" is pleased to announce the selection of their latest film “Land of Doom” in the 68th Berlin International Film Festival-Forum Expanded, taking place between 15th and 25th of February, 2018. This screening will be the World Premiere of “Land of Doom” The festival has released the official selections on its website, today. “Land of Doom”, directed by Milad Amin and Ghaith Berem and featuring the last days... more

Today, “Taste of Cement” by Ziad Kalthoum was awarded the Best Documentary Award at the 14th Dubai Film Festival. The awarad was received by Talal Khoury, the director of photography of the film and the Screenwriting Partner.   This award is added to a huge series of international and Arab awards won by “Taste of Cement” after it started its tour in festivals, few months ago.

“Syria: Looking for a world” is the title of a series of screenings, exhibitions, and discussions happening in Paris Diderot University, to tackle the Syrian story after the bombing of Aleppo:   “One year ago, Aleppo started to be bombed in front of the world’s eyes, who were watching with indifference, cynicism, and helplessness. December 2016 marks a new stage in the bloody conflict that started in Syria since the revolution in... more

  In one night, 18th of November, and in different cities around the world, “Taste of Cement” by Ziad Kalthoum won four awards: 1-     The Golden Key in kasseler Dok Fest film festival 34th ,Germany 2-     The Special Jury Prize in RIDM Montreal film festival 20th ,Canada  3-     The (Don Quixote) Prize in l'Alternativa, Festival de Cine Independiente de Barcelona ,Spain  4-     The Open Eyes Prize in Medfilm festival, Italy   

After many international awards of which the last one was in Dei Popoli, “On the Edge of Life” by Yasser Kassab won Best Documentary Award and Best Mid-length Documentary Award in Tirana International Film Festival (TIFF) in Albania. The jury described the film as a heart-rending personal essay on grief and uprooting, on the limbo states of existence. At the same time, the film was screened in the mid-length documentary competition and... more

  After “Taste of Cement” got many awards in international festivals, the film’s director “Ziad Kalthoum” and DOP “Talal Khoury” meet in the 14th version of Dubai Film Festival, each to show his film.   “Taste of Cement” competes on the Golden Muhr’s Award for feature documentaries in the official competition. “Mediterranean”, Talal Khoury’s short experimental film, competes on the awards of short films in the same competition.   The festival starts in the... more

Note: The deadline of application is postponed till Thurday 30th of November 2017. Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts is organizing a workshop for young filmmakers, under the supervision of trainers Arne Bro, Head of Doc & TV-Department at the National Filmschool of Denmark and Lotte Mik-Meyer, Documentary Director & Film Commissioner, FILM WORKSHOP Copenhagen.     The workshop will take place in Lebanon from the 18th till the 22nd of December 2017.   Only 8 applicants... more

  Described as “a story of survival in a contemporary moment uncertainty”, “On the edge of life", by Yasser Kassab, got the Best Mid-Length Documentary Award, in the 58th edition of Festival dei Popoli that took place between 10th and 17th of October, in Italy.   Moreover, “On the Edge of Life” has been selected in the International Short and Medium-Length Competition as part of the 20th edition of Montreal international documentary film festival RIDM which... more

Samer Ajouri, director of the animation film The Boy and the Sea decides to withdraw from Carthage Film Festival protesting against the participation of the feature fiction film, Homs’ Rain directed by Joud Saeed, writing a statement (attached with this news piece) to clarify his position.   We, as Bidayyat, the producer company of the film, show solidarity with Samer Ajouri and value his courageous moral and cinematic position. We call on filmmakers to show solidarity with this position, refusing to allow their art to... more

The world's largest documentary film festival, The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) selected the two feature documentaries “On the Edge of Life” and “Taste of Cement”, both produced by Bidayyat in two programs outside the official competition. The festival runs from 15 to 26th of November.   “On the Edge of Life”, directed by Yasser Kassab, will take place in IDFA’s Paradocs Program. “The films in this program section showcase what... more

   Taking place from 6th to 14th October, the  ARAB FILM FESTIVAL in Tübingen (Germany) is screening four films produced by "Bidayyat", in addition to 5 films from “Syrian Stories” project organized by Bidayyat, Scottish Documentary Institute, and the British Council. Bidayyat is participating with two feature documentaries: "Taste of Cement" by Ziad Kalthoum, and "194. Us, children of the camp", by Samer Salameh, and "Obscure" by Soudade Kaadan (it got Bidayyat's 2016... more

After winning awards in many European countries, “On the Edge of Life” directed by Yasser Kassab will have its Italian premiere in the official selection international competition at the 58th edition of Festival dei Popoli. The screening will be on Friday 13th of October at La Compagnia 03:00 Pm.   In his film, Yaser and his partner Rima leave Syria to Lebanon, but after receiving the news that his younger brother passed... more

Seven major European film festivals award Taste of Cement the “Doc Alliance Selection (DAS)” award. The film already won the main award at Alliance Festival Visions du Reel, but it was selected out of seven films because of its “unique visual style and compelling approach to conveying the story of two Syrian refugees trying to make a living as construction workers in Lebanon”.    Taste of Cement is now among 15 nominees... more

Taste of Cement wins the (Harrell) award for best feature documentary during its first US premiere at Camden International Film Festical (CIFF). This festival is one of the most important documentary film festivals internationally. “Taste of Cement” was chosen from around 80 films screened during this festival that took place between September 14 and 17. “Taste of Cement” wins this award ten days after winning the Emerging International Filmmaker Award at... more

In 2016, “Bidayyat” started its first “Intensive Training Program” under the title of “Introduction to Documentary Film Directing”. Nine participants underwent an intensive training session about all the steps a documentary film passes through.   Every participant worked on improving their films’ ideas, and on shooting and directing it, with one-to-one follow up with the trainers. The participants finished the program having their own short documentaries, and Bidayyat screened the movies in... more

Talal Khoury, director of photography for feature documentaries and fiction that won many international prizes, is presenting Bidayyat by an installation and a short movie, “Mediterranean”, at 2017 ACC Arts Space Network Forum from August 28 to the 4th of September, hosted by Asia Culture Institute in Korea.   2017 ACC Arts Space Network Forum is a long-term project that has been holding by ACC since 2011. This year, 40 art spaces... more

"Taste Of Cement" wins the Grand Prix for the best feature documentary of 18th at Mediteran Film Festival in Bosnia. "Taste of Cement" is directed by Ziad Kalthoum, and produced by Bidayyat and BASIS BERLIN Filmprodukytion in 2017. The explanation by the jury for feature documentary competition composed of Vlatka Vorkapić, Jorge Tur Molto and Ademir Kenović was the following: “By precise and aesthetically brilliant use of camera, the film “Taste... more

“Skin”, a film by Afraa Batous , that received Bidayyat’s documentary grant 2015, won the "Hans und Lea Grundig" prize, awarded by the German Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, for the field of film in 2017. Skin follows the director’s personal journey through vivid memories of two of her closest friends, Hussein and Soubhi, living in politically and socially tiring times. She documents their gradual collapse, which, as she realizes later, reflects her... more

Taste of Cement, a film by Ziad Kalthoum, produced by Bidayyat and BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion, is in the official selection for the EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2017. It got selected with 14 other European Films, and the awards ceremony will take place on 9 December in Berlin. Also, Taste of Cement will be screened- with other 11 films- within the competition program of feature length documentary at the Mediterranean Film Festival taking... more

Ziad Kalthoum's TASTE OF CEMENT, produced by Bidayyat and BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion in 2017, will be this year’s Opening Night gala at the Open City Documentary, and so its UK premiere will take place on Tuesday 5 September at Picturehouse Central. Taste of Cement will also be in the official competition of the Kosovo International Documentary Film Festival that will run from August 4 till August 12. The film will participate in Visioni dal... more

Soudade Kaadan’s film “Obscure”, which has received the support of Bidayyat’s documentary grant 2016, participated in Shubbak  festival, London’s largest biennial festival of contemporary Arab culture.   The festival runs from 1 till 16 July, and the film was screened on the 9th of July. This was the UK premiere of Obscure at Shubbak. The film talks abous Ahmad, a 6 year old Syrian child. He doesn’t want to remember that he is Syrian. He... more

  Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts in collaboration with SDI-Scottish Documentary Institute- announces the launch of the OPEN CALL for its third intensive training program “Introduction to Documentary Film Directing” for emerging Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinians filmmakers.               8 participants will be offered the opportunity to follow a practical and theoretical, hands-on intensive training. The emerging talents must demonstrate interest in arts and film and must have the desire to specialise in directing documentary films that engage and question society. The candidates must have an... more

  The short film “Yaman” - Directed by Amer Al-Barzawi, produced by Bidayyat- at the official competition of the Prestigious Annecy International Animation Film Festival, France.   About the film: Yaman is a young inventor. His greatest invention is an incredible machine which can turns tissues into incredible ones, an invention that helps him survive.      Festival's program here  

  "Taste of Cement" wins the award of Best feature film of the International Competition at Visions Du Reel film festival.   A film by Ziad Khalthoum, produced by Bidayyat and BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion   About the film: Each morning at sunrise, Syrian workers in Lebanon climb construction sites, their hammer strokes waking the country – a country they only know from distance, as they are banned from moving through it, or swimming in its sea.... more

  “On the edge of life”, A feature documentary by Yaser Kassab wins the Joris Ivens / Cnap Award, for the Best 1st film. Cinema du reel film festival, Paris. This film has received the support of Bidayyat's documentary grant 2013   Link to the festival’s announcement here   About the film: Yaser and his partner Rima leave Syria to Lebanon, but after receiving the news that his younger brother passed away in Aleppo, they end up... more

  World Premiere for “Taste of cement”, a film by Ziad Kalthoum -produced by Bidayyat and BASIS BERLIN Filmproduktion- at the official competition of Visions du Réel International Film Festival.   Screening date: 23 April 16:30, Salle Communale   About the film: Each morning at sunrise, Syrian workers in Lebanon climb construction sites, their hammer strokes waking the country – a country they only know from distance, as they are banned from moving through it, or swimming... more

    "Houses without doors" by Avo Kaprealian and produced by Bidayyat, wins the crowd jury award for the Best film at Fronteira film Festival, Brazil.   About The film:   The film portrays the changes in the life of an Armenian family on Aleppo’s frontline in Al Midan, an area that brought shelter to the persecuted Armenians 100 years ago and today to many displaced Syrians. From the balcony of his home, the director films... more

  World Premiere for “194. Us, Children of the Camp” in the competitive Regard Neuf section for first feature films at Visions du Réel International Film Festival.   “194. Us, Children of the Camp” a documentary feature film by Samer Salameh and Produced by Bidayyat.   Date of screening: 25 April 14:00. Salle Communale.     About the film:   “194. Us Children of the camp” follows the story of Yarmouk Palestinian camp in Syria as of 2011, through the eyes... more

  A selection of short films produced by Bidayyat will be screened at Filmfest Dresden: Dresden International short film festival, Germany.   The films are:   “Focus Syria 3: Stories of A March” with “TATLIT” by Saeed Albatal and “LOVE DURING THE SIEGE” by Mattar Esmaeel: 5.4.2017, 7:30 pm, Schauburg 7.4.2017, 4:30 pm, Societaetstheater 8.4.2017, 10 pm, Schauburg   Kids 3 with “YAMAN” by Amer Albarzawi 7.4.2017, 4:00 pm, Schauburg 8.4.2017, 10:30 am, Thalia 9.4.2017, 2:00 pm, Thalia   Open Air Shorts 8 with” 9... more

  Official Selection and European Premiere for “The boy and the Sea” - A short film by Samer Ajouri and produced by Bidayyat- at ALFILM Festival, Berlin.   Screening dates: Sat 01.04.2017. 20:00 .Eiszeit Tue 04.04.2017 .19:00 .Arsenal   klick here to go to the festival announcement

  OPEN CALL for emerging Syrian film-makers to join a training program entitled “Syrian Stories” - A partnership between The British Council, Scottish Documentary Institute and Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts The closing date for applications is 24 March 2017 Location: Amman.   The British Council, Scottish Documentary Institute and Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts are pleased to announce the launch of Syrian Stories, a training program for emerging Syrian and Syrian-Palestinian filmmakers. The Syrian Stories programme... more

  The Feature Documentary “Houses without doors” Directed by Avo Kaprealian , and the Short film “Yaman”, directed by Amer Al-Barzawi, will be screened at the BBC Arabic festival 2017. Both films are produced by Bidayyat.   “Houses without doors” will be screened on Monday, March 27th. 7 PM.  For more info click here     “Yaman” will be screened on Tuesday 28th. 12 PM. For more Info click here  

  OPEN CALL for emerging Syrian film-makers to join a training program entitled “Syrian Stories” - A partnership between The British Council, Scottish Documentary Institute and Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts   The closing date for applications is 27 February 2017 Location: Beirut.   The British Council, Scottish Documentary Institute and Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts are pleased to announce the launch of Syrian Stories, a training program for emerging Syrian and Syrian-Palestinian filmmakers. The Syrian Stories programme... more

  The short film “Yaman”, directed by Amer Al-Barzawi and produced by Bidayyat, wins the “Best Short Film Award” at Dhaka international film festival, Bangladesh.   Word of the Jury: A wonderfully innovative short film, we were enthralled to the deepest parts of our hearts. This is why the jury has chosen ‘Yaman’ for the best short film award

  "Houses Without Doors" a film by Avo Kaprealian and produced by Bidayyat wins The Best International Documentary Award at the 34th Torino Film Festival, Italy.   the filmmaker dedicated This award is to real artists everywhere, who are struggling worldwide, against the big powers that is playing with the History... This award is for Aleppo which is bleeding in her mothers' hug, Syria... And this award is also, for me, a little step towards the... more

  The short film “Now: End of season” by Ayman Nahle and the feature film “Houses without doors” by Avo Kaprealian will be screened at “AFLAM” film festival, Marseille, France. Both films are produced by Bidayyat.   “Houses without doors will be screened at the MUCEM, 2nd December. 18:00 More info on: http://www.lesrencontresdaflam.fr/houses-doors/     “Now: End of season”, will be screened at the MUCEM, 4 December. 17:00 More info on: http://www.lesrencontresdaflam.fr/season/    

  The feature documentary “Houses without doors” by Avo Kaprealian, produced by Bidayyat, will compete for the Best International Documentary award at Torino Film Festival, Italy.   About the film: The film portrays the changes in the life of an Armenian family on Aleppo’s frontline in Al Midan, an area that brought shelter to the persecuted Armenians 100 years ago and today to many displaced Syrians. From the balcony of his home, the director... more

  World Premiere for “The boy and the sea” at the official competition of the Muhr Short, Dubai International film festival. “The Boy and the sea”, a short film by Samer Ajouri, Produced by Bidayyat.   Sunday 11 Dec, 18:15. Mall of The Emirates, Vox 06 Tusday 13 Dec, 21:15. Mall of The Emirates, Vox 06     About The film:   The story did not begin with the worldwide TV snatched image of the Syrian child Elan, thrown on... more

  The Documentary 300 Miles, by Oroa Mokdad, Supported by Bidayyat documentary grant, wins the prize of Best First Feature Film comprising Competitions and New Visions, Doclisboa Film Festival.   About the film: Between the South and the North of Syria the director tries through his camera and his young niece Nour’s camera to shed the light on the distance that has been grown in Syria since the beginning of the revolution in 2011... more

  The short film “Now: End of season” by Ayman Nahle and the feature film “Houses without doors” by Avo Kaprealian will be screened at the CineMigrante Film Festival, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Both films are produced by Bidayyat.   “Now: End of season”, will be screened on Saturday the 15th of October at 15h in the Gaumont Cinema. More info on: http://www.cinemigrante.org/programacion2016/now_end.html   “Houses without doors will be screened on Saturday October 15th. 17 hs. MUNTREF.... more

  3 Syrian films were selected to take part in Cartage Film Festival. “Houses Without doors” by Avo Kaprealian, produced by Bidayyat, was selected at the official competition of feature films as well as “The Cow farm” by Ali Sheik khoder. “Skin” by Afraa Batous, supported by Bidayyat’s documentary grant was selected at the official competition for the 1st film.     

  6 short films produced by Bidayyat will be screened at the 35th Uppsala International short film festival, within a special program entitled “Syria Now “. 28 & 29 October 2016.   The films: “Now: End of season”, by Ayman Nahle “Yaman”, by Amer Al-barzawi “Love during the siege”, by Mattar Ismaeel “A Day and a Button”, by Azza Hamwi “Blue”, by Abo Gabi “Frontline”, by Saeed Al Batal & Ghiath Alhad   The Festival's program: http://www.shortfilmfestival.com/assets/2016/10/Katalog2016_lowres.pdf

  Portuguese Premiere for “300 Miles” a film by Orwa Al-Mokdad, Supported by Bidayyat documentary grant, at the official competition of Doclisboa International Film Festival. Screening date: 23 & 26 October 2016.   About the film: Between the South and the North of Syria the director tries through his camera and his young niece Nour’s camera to shed the light on the distance that has been grown in Syria since the beginning of the revolution... more

  3 films produced by Bidayyat will be screened at “Almost There”: Europe, Middle East, Africa: People in Motion. A Film Festival on Migration. Metropolis cinema, Beirut.    The festival is organized by The Embassy of Switzerland in Lebanon and Heinrich Boell Foundation - Middle East Office Beirut. The films are:   “Yaman”, by Amer Albarzawi. Monday 3 October 2016. 8:00 pm. “Our terrible country” by Mohammad Ali Atassi & Ziad Homsi. Monday 3 October 2016. 8:00... more

  3 films produced by Bidayyat will be screened at the  Asiatica Film Mediale. Rome.   The films are:   “Now: End of season” by Ayman Nahle. Thursday Sep 29th 2016. 20:00 “Love during the siege” by Mattar Ismaeel. Friday Sep 30th 2916. 20:00 “Our terrible country” by Mohammad Ali Atassi & Ziad Homsi. Saturday Oct 1st. 20:30   Full program:http://www.asiaticafilmmediale.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ASIATICA_PROGRAM_2016.pdf

  US Premiere for “Now: End of season” a Short film by Ayman Nahle, produced by Bidayyat, at the 54th New York Film Festival. the film will be screened within a program entitled: THE SPACES BETWEEN THE WORDS   Friday October 7, 4:00pm Saturday October 8, 3:00pm At the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W. 65th St.)     About the film: Garage Izmir is in the middle of the long migratory journey that thousands of Syrian refugees... more

  The Short film "Blue", by Abo Ghabi, produced by Bidayyat and Rad Fael, Wins the First prize of the International Amateur Film Festival of Kelibia, Tunisia     About The film: I've had a recurring dream since I fled the Yarmouk Refugee Camp and came to Beirut. The dream takes me back to besieged Yarmouk, where death and destruction have found a way to settle in all its details. I am not sure whether... more

  World Premiere for “300 Miles”, a film by Orwa Al-Mokdad, Supported by Bidayyat documentary grant, at Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland.   Screening Dates: Thursday 11 | 8 | 2016 · 21.00 · PalaVideo                                     Friday 12 | 8 | 2016 · 11.30 · L’altra Sala         About the film: Orwa Al Mokdad starts a journey from Daraa, southern Syria, to Aleppo, northern Syria, to understand the reasons that have shattered the whole Arab region over... more

“Houses Without Doors”, a film by Avo Kaprealian and produced by Bidayyat, will be opening the Karama-Beirut Human Rights Film Festival. Thursday, July 21st, 2016, Metropolis-Empire Sofil, Beirut, Lebanon. This is the Arab premiere for the film after its World Premiere at the “Berlinale”. About the film: The film portrays the changes in the life of an Armenian family on Aleppo’s frontline in Al Midan, an area that brought shelter to the persecuted... more

  Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts announces the launch of the OPEN CALL for its second intensive training program “Introduction to Documentary Film Directing” for emergent Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinians (residing in both countries) artists.   8 participants will be offered the opportunity to follow a practical and theoretical, hands-on intensive training. The emerging talents must demonstrate interest in arts and film and must have the desire to specialize in directing documentary films that engage and question society. The candidates must have an... more

  Bidayyat would like to thank all the filmmakers who applied to Bidayyat documentary grant 2016.   We received 45 applications. And In total, an amount of 80,000$ US Dollar was granted to 11 projects in production and post-production phases.   Selected projects:   Production phase:   “When the Khabur River flooded”. Bahzad Hamo   “Damascus-Beirut”. Afraa Batous   “83 Orange Peels” .Klara Hammoud   “A glimmer of hope”. Ameer Abou Jawad   “Mixed Vegetables”. Amer Matar       Post-production phase:   “Obscure”. Soudade Kaadan   "Al-Daour -The road keeper". Eyad Aljarod   “The Borrowed Dress”.... more

  In partnership with the British Museum and Bidayyat Audiovisual Arts, The Spanish artist Juan Delgado will be screening a selection of short films produced by Bidayyat, at the British Museum London. Event Title: “Filming Syria: Stories from the Jasmin Tree”. June 24th, 6 pm.   The films:   “9 ½”, by Syrialism   “Being Good So Far (Part 1) & Being Good So Far (Part 2)”, by Orwa Al Mokdad     “Funfairs”, by Nanda Al Dolani   “Siege”, by Abdullah... more

  The Short film “love during the siege”, by Mattar Isameel, produced by Bidayyat, will be screened at The Norwegian Short Film Festival, within a Special Program entitled: “The Right to Territory, the Right to Life”   The screening will take place on Thursday June 9th at 12:00, at the festival venue Grimstad Culture House.   About The film: More than two years have passed and the Syrian regime still besieges the Southern suburbs of Damascus... more

  Mattar Ismaeel wins the Samir Kassir Award for the freedom of the press -for the best audiovisual report 2016 with his film "Love during the siege". This is the third consecutive year that a film produced by Bidayyat wins The Samir Kassir award! Congratulations to Mattar, and freedom to all the besieged in Syria.     About The film: More than two years have passed and the Syrian regime still besieges the Southern suburbs... more

  The short films “Now: End of season” by Ayman Nahle and “Being good so far 2” by Orwa Mokdad, will be screened at Tainiothiki, Athens, within the framework of the project “In the heart on the heart of another country”. Both films are produced by Bidayyat. In the heart on the heart of another country is a collaborative project between contemporary art and sociο-political debates. A project between Syria, Lebanon &Greece.   "Being good... more

  To complement the Altered Landscapes exhibition, by the Spanish artist Juan Delgado, a series of short films in partnership with Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts, will be screened at the Watermans center, London. Event Title: “Filming Syria: Stories from the Jasmin Tree” Screening date: 21 May, 2016, at 6:30 PM.   The films:   “9 ½”, by Syrialism   “Being Good So Far (Part 1) & Being Good So Far (Part 2)”, by Orwa Al Mokdad     “Funfairs”, by Nanda... more

  A selection of short films produced by Bidayyat will be screened at the Museum of Civilizations of Europe and the Mediterranean, France. This screening is part of a cycle of film screenings focusing on the city of Beirut. Screening date: from 12 to 23 May 2016.   The films are: “1915” by Gerard Agabashian “Funfairs” by Nanda Al Dolani “Blue” by Abo Gabi “Yaman” by Amer Albarzawi   “Street Music” by Orwa al Mokdad   Link to The Announcement on the”... more

  Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts announces the launch of its GRANT PROGRAM to support Creative Documentary Film projects in their Production or Post-productions phases by emergent Syrian & Syrian Palestinian filmmaker Submission deadline: Sunday 15th May, 2016     Criteria for applying The applicant must be the project holder; The applicant must hold a Syrian or Syrian Palestinian nationality; The applicant must belong to the emergent filmmakers; The project must be either in its production or post-production phase; The... more

  The short film “Now: End of season”, by Ayman Nahle, produced by Bidayyat, at “Alfilm Festival”, Berlin. Screening date: Sunday 10-04-2016. 21:00.   About the film: Garage Izmir is in the middle of the long migratory journey that thousands of Syrian refugees pass through daily to take the sea route to Europe, after a long wait in Turkey. Will this journey be delayed one more day?   Announcement on the festival’s website: http://www.alfilm.de/en/program/now-end-of-season/

  The Short film “Love during the siege”, by Mattar Ismaeel, produced by Bidayyat, will be screened among other films selected by Karama Festival, at the Movies That Matter Festival, The Hague.   Screening date: 26-03-2016.   Announcement on the festival’s website: http://www.moviesthatmatter.nl/english_index/festival/programma_en/film_en/2020

  Several short films produced by Bidayyat will be shown in a screening programme entitled “focus on Syria”, at the “Glasgow Short Film Festival”. Sunday 20 March (13.15).   The films:   “A Day and a Button”, by Azza Hamwi “99˚”, by Rawad Alzakout “Frontline”, by Saeed Al Batal & Ghiath “I Love Death”, by Amen Alarand   “Siege”, by Abdullah al-Khatib, Yahea Deea, Moayad Zaghmout, Baraa Nmrawi, Jamal Khalife, Mohammad Alsukari, Wassim Mnwar, Abdul Rahman Saleem, Omar Abdullah, Nawar... more

  The short film “Now: End of season”, by Ayman Nahle, produced by Bidayyat, has been chosen for the Think: Film Tour Program.   About the Think:Film Tour Program:   In 2014 the Think:Film Award was established in cooperation with Cimatheque, Cairo, with the support of Allianz Kulturstiftung and the Goethe-⁠Institut. This year, the NAAS network -⁠ an association of art-⁠house cinemas, film clubs and initiatives from the Arab world that are dedicated to artists'... more

    Several short films produced by Bidayyat will be screened at the “Human Right Human Wrongs” Documentary Film Festival, Oslo. 16-21-Feb 2016.   The films are: “Love during the siege” by Mattar Ismaeel “Sage” by Hani Mawed “A day and a button” by Azza Hamwi “1915” by Gerard Agabashian.     The films: “Love during the siege” and “A day and a button”, will take part in the "Troubled Water "- the Human Rights / Human Wrongs art exhibition. 16-28-Feb... more

  World Premiere for “Now: End of Season ", a short film by Ayman Nahle, produced by Bidayyat, at the Berlinale.   About The film: Garage Izmir is in the middle of the long migratory journey that thousands of Syrian refugees pass through daily to take the sea route to Europe, after a long wait in Turkey. Will this journey be delayed one more day? Screening dates: Tue. 16-02, 18:30 Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg Wed. 17-02, 15:30 Arsenal... more

  World Premiere for “Houses without doors", a film by Avo Kaprealian, produced by Bidayyat, at the Berlinale.   About the film: The film portrays the changes in the life of an Armenian family on Aleppo’s frontline in Al Midan, an area that brought shelter to the persecuted Armenians 100 years ago and today to many displaced Syrians. From the balcony of his home, the director films with a small camera the changes in... more

  The short Film “love during the siege”, by Matar Ismael, produced by Bidayyat at The Karama Film Festival. Amman, Jordan. The screening will take place on: 9-12-2015. Round theatre. 5:00 PM.   About the film:   More than two years have passed and the Syrian regime still besieges the Southern suburbs of Damascus where a population of more than 100,000 people live until today. During those two years, more than 200 died of hunger... more

  The short film “A home on a rainbow”, by Rami Nihawi, Lina Alabed & Nadim Deaibes, produced by Bidayyat, at The Tyre International short film Festival. Tyre, Lebanon.   The screening will take place on 7-12-2015, 6:00 PM, Alhamra Cinema, Tyre.   About the film: “3 years ago, the inhabitants of “Al Marj” refugee camp located in the Bikaa Valley, fled from different regions in Syria to find refuge in Lebanon. Instead of finding a... more

  World premiere and official selection of the film "Skin" at the Dubai International Film Festival. Skin, a film by Afraa Batous, Supported by Bidayyat’s documentary grant 2015.   About the film: "Skin" is a deeply personal film that explores the director’s memories of her two closest friends, Hussein and Soubhi, as they struggle to reconcile their actions in politically and socially trying times. As Afraa the director observes their gradual collapse from behind the... more

  “COMA”, a film by Sara Fattahi, Supported by Bidayyat’s documentary grant, at the official competition of the Montreal International Documentary Festival, Carthage film festival and Torino film festival.   Screening date, Montreal International Documentary Festival: 18-11-2015   Link to the Festival announcement: http://www.ridm.qc.ca/en/programmation/films/984/coma   Screening date, Torino film festival: 24-11-2015 Link to the program: http://www.torinofilmfest.org/en/program/edition/102/33-torino-film-festival.html   Screening date, Carthage film festival: 26-11-2015   Link to the program: http://www.jcctunisie.org/pdf/programmeJCC2015.pdf    Link to the Festival announcement: http://www.jcctunisie.org/films-detail-real.php?id_film=189   About The film:   The film shows the micro cosmos of three generations of women from one... more

  “Coma”, a film by Sara Fattahi, Supported by Bidayyat’s documentary grant, wins The Viennale FIPRESCI award, the Prize of International Film Critics for the best first film.   About The film: The film shows the micro cosmos of three generations of women from one family. In detailed observation their movements between the present and an ever existing past is followed as their lives intersect while living together in one house. Coexisting, but separated by... more

  The short film love during the siege, by Matar Ismaeel, produced by Bidayyat, will be screened at the "Homs Documentary Film Festival, 2nd edition". The festival will take place on 15-11-2015, in Alwaer sieged neighborhood in Homs.     About The film “love during the siege”: More than two years have passed and the Syrian regime still besieges the Southern suburbs of Damascus where a population of more than 100,000 people live until today.... more

  The Short Film ”Now: End of season”, by Ayman Nahle, produced by Bidayyat will be screened at the forum “Home Works 7” organized by Ashkal Alwan. Beirut, Lebanon.   The film will be screened on Saturday 14-11-2015, at 15:00, at Ashkal Alwan building     About The film: Garage Izmir is in the middle of the long migratory journey that thousands of Syrian refugees pass through daily to take the sea route to Europe, after a... more

  A selection of Short films, produced by Bidayyat, at the Winterthur short film festival, Switzerland. This special program is entitled: The Syrian Revolution Will not be televised.   Description: We might think that we’ve seen almost all kinds of images describing Syria and showing war, evil, suffering, destruction, and tears. We might think this is Syria. Yet too often, this is not a correct image, but just an image. There are things belonging... more

  The short film “99°”, by Rawad Alzakout, produced by Bidayyat, at the “Dancing on the Edge festival, The Netherlands. November 2015.    More info: http://dancingontheedge.nl/projects/moving-matters-2015/  

  Official selection for "blue" a short film by Abo Ghabi, produced by Bidayyat and Rad fael, at the BBC Arabic festival. The film will be screened on Sunday 01-11-2015 More Info about the Screening: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34186581 Festival Program: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arabic_festival/bbc_arabic_film_festival_guide_2015.pdf  

  The screening will take place at Metro, Historischer Saal on Wed, Nov. 4, 2015 - 21:00     About The film: The film shows the micro cosmos of three generations of women from one family. In detailed observation their movements between the present and an ever existing past is followed as their lives intersect while living together in one house. Coexisting, but separated by the age and time that each carry in them, they... more

  Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts proudly announces its first intensive training program “Introduction into Documentary Film Directing”.   It will offer 8 to 10 participants the opportunity to follow a practical, hands-on intensive training as an introduction into directing documentary films. It targets emerging talents from Syria and Lebanon as well as Palestinians residing in both countries with a demonstrated interest in arts and film and the desire to specialize in directing documentary... more

Officiall selection for "blue" a short film by Abo Ghabi, produced by Bidayyat, at the Toronto Palestine film festival   Link to the festival program: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54fcf55ae4b091c87ea910bb/t/55c25856e4b0b1f08d9f9ba1/1438799958258/TPFF+PROGRAM+2015.pdf-2.jpg  

  Over 50 films were submitted for the Final Cut Venice and six projects were selected to participate, these are: •Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim by Sherif ELBENDARY (Egypt) •House in the Fields by Tala HADID (Marocco) •Path of Paradise by Atia Al-DARADJI (Iraq) • Beirut Rooster by Ziad KALTHOUM (Syria) •Separation by Hakar ABDULQADIR (Iraq) •Zaineb hates the snow by Kaouther BEN HANIA (Tunisia)   SANAD fund, has partnered with Final Cut in Venice, a workshop of the... more

Bidayyat would like to thank all the 34 young creative and dynamic filmmakers who applied their film projects to the Bidayyat documentary grant 2015. In total, an amount of 70,000$ US Dollar was granted to 8 projects in production and post-production. Selection committe The independent jury - composed of three professionals in documentary filmmaking - Syrian director of photography Joude Gorani, Syrian filmmaker Hisham Alzouki and Lebanese filmmaker Maher Abi Samra - had... more

  The Samir Kassir award for freedom of the press, for the best audiovisual report, goes to Abo Ghabi for his short film “Blue”, produced by Bidayyat & "Rad Fael (reaction) It is worth mentioning that 3 Syrian short films, produced by Bidayyat, were nominated to the final 3    stage of the competition.   The nominated films are: “Frontline” by Saeed Albatal and Ghiath-Had “Blue” by Abo Ghabi “1915” by Gerard Agabashian

  Bidayyat has held a training workshop for three days with a group of young people working in the field of filmmaking, in collaboration and under the supervision of the Dutch filmmaker Leonard Retel Helmrich. The Training subject was about the "Single Shot Cinema" Technique, developed by the filmmaker Leonard himself.   Leonard Retel Helmrich received the highest honors for international documentaries at the Sundance Festival and was the first two-time International Documentary... more

  Italian Graffiti artist ERON, uses some parts from the short film "Blue" by Abo Gabi, produced by Bidayyat, in his installation at Biennale di Venezia. He dedicated his work to Al Yarmouk camp and Ayham Ahmad. Installation entitled:  "The World's Future" Link to the exhibition website: http://www.thebridgesofgraffiti.com/exhibition/

    About “Coma”:   The film shows the micro cosmos of three generations of women from one family. In detailed observation their movements between the present and an ever existing past is followed as their lives intersect while living together in one house. Coexisting, but separated by the age and time that each carry in them, they share their painful experiences and search for a way of life in the loss and agony... more

    About “Coma”:   The film shows the micro cosmos of three generations of women from one family. In detailed observation their movements between the present and an ever existing past is followed as their lives intersect while living together in one house. Coexisting, but separated by the age and time that each carry in them, they share their painful experiences and search for a way of life in the loss and agony... more

  Bidayyat has launched on April 2, 2015 its annual call to announce the support of creative documentary film projects. The current call for applications to the grant is open until 31/05/2015.   A first selection round will be made by the jury who is going to choose those film projects that will be taken into consideration for the final selection. The jury will then carry out interviews with the applicants (directly or... more

Bidayyat, Audio-visual arts, is launching a workshop entitled:” Introduction to directing documentary films”, targeting Syrians and Palestinians-Syrians emerging filmmakers. Under the supervision of The Palestinian filmmaker Michel Khalife: Professor at the institute of Cinema and theater at the University of Brussels. The workshop will be held in Beirut from 3-04-2015 till 11-04-2015.

"Our terrible country" won the "Special Audience Prize" and the "Youth Jury Prize" at punto de vista documentary film festival. http://www.puntodevistafestival.com/es/noticias.asp?IdNoticia=371  

Bidayyat- Audio visual arts in collaboration with Watad training center, is holding a 5 days online training workshop for a group of nine young filmmakers in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, the workshop is on “the making of short documentaries “ and it’s under  the supervision of The Palestinian filmmaker Dana Abou Rahme .    To know more about Watad center please visit: https://www.facebook.com/pages

"Our Terrible Country" will be screened today in Berlin at 8:00 PM during Internationaler Petra-Kelly-Preis 2014 event with the prsesnse of the two directors of the film Ali Atassi and Ziad Homsi    For more details please visit: http://calendar.boell.de/de/event/internationaler-petra-kelly-preis-2014

Bidayyat's full production "Our Terrible Country" goes to oficial selection at Carthage film festival    For more details: http://www.babnet.net/festivaldetail-94666.asp

The Aan Korb BBC Arabic Film and Documentary Festival has selected three short films "A farewell to Damascus" by Azza Alhamwi, "Wound" by Wael Kadlo and "Dr Qasem" by Amal Salloum to be shown as part of the festival on Syrian stories. Bidayyat is thrillled that Amal Salloum is a recipient of BBC Arabic’s first Young Journalist Award for her film "Dr Qasim" And Wael Kadlo is a recipeint of Best Shot film... more

Bidayyat in association with Screen Institute Beirut are organizing a training workshop for young filmmakers, under the supervision of trainers Arne Bro and Lotte Mik-Meyer from the National Film School of Denmark. The workshop will take place in Beirut from 29 September till 3 October 2014.   Only 8 applicants will be selected due to the nature of the workshop that necessitates a small number of participants in order to better concentrate... more

"Our Terrible Country" German Premiere at the DOK Leipzig festival 2014   For more information please visit: http://films2014.dok-leipzig.de/en/film.aspx?ID=7908

We are thrilled to announce the participation of "Our terrible Country" at the VIENNALE 2014

Our Terrible Country In Doclisboa International film festival 2014   For more information please visit: http://doclisboa.org/2014/en/filmes/baldna-alraheeb/

Our Terrible Country premiere in South America at SP International Film Festival (Mostra) in Barazil    For more details please visit: http://38.mostra.org/br/filme/8104-NOSSO-TERRIVEL-PAIS

"Our terrible country" at the Kaunas International Film Festival in Lithuania 2014   For more details please visit: http://www.kinofestivalis.lt/en/films/Our-Terrible-Country

I love death, 1915, Self-Portrait, Nobody's perfect, A dream of powerful monsters and MiG These 6 Short films realized by young Syrian directors and produced by Bidayyat were shown in the framework of the Arab Film Festival in the German city of Tuebingen For more deatial: http://www.arabisches-filmfestival.de/

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts and Heinrich Böll Stiftung Beirut In cooperation with the German Embassy Beirut Have the pleasure to invite you to the avant-première of the Documentary film “Our Terrible Country” Winner of the Grand Prix of the International Competition in the FID Marseille 2014 Directors: Mohammad Ali Atassi and Ziad Homsi Metropolis Empire Sofil Beirut, Achrafiye October 7, 2014 at 20:15 The screening will take place in presence of the film directors. The invitation is open and there's... more

Bidayyat for Audiovisual Arts presents Our Terrible Country (2014, 85 minutes, Syria/Lebanon), a film by Mohammad Ali Atassi and Ziad Homsi at Ashkal Alwan on Thursday 23 October 2014 at 8pm This road movie portrays on the perilous journey of Yassin Haj Saleh, a well-known Syrian intellectual and dissident, and young photographer Ziad Homsi who travel together in an arduous, dangerous route from the liberated area of Douma/Damascus to Raqqa in... more

In at least one place where tomorrow feels lost, music still fills the gashed present with a kind of home-made mercy. The place is Yarmouk Palestinian Refugee Camp outside Damascus, the present is a siege of over 450 days, and the music—unlike water and electricity–keeps flowing unstoppably from Ayham Ahmad’s battered upright piano.   Much more than a mere soundtrack, this music is the hero of the short, bittersweet documentary “I Am... more

"Our Terrible Country" at The Mediterranean Film Festival, Cinemed Montpelier-France: Official selection, Documentaries competition For more details please visit: http://www.cinemed.tm.fr/cgi-bin/film/film.cgi?lemenu=7&id=16647&festi=72&uk=oui&mod=proguk

The Aan Korb BBC Arabic Film and Documentary Festival has selected three short films "A farewell to Damascus" by Azza Alhamwi, "Wound" by Wael Kadlo and "Dr Qasem" by Amal Salloum to be shown as part of the festival on Syrian stories. Bidayyat is thrillled about this news and congrets the three young directors. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29166830

Our Terrible Country’ takes us on the perilous journey of Yassin Haj Saleh, a well-known Syrian intellectual and dissident, and the young photographer Ziad Homsi who travel together in an arduous and dangerous route from the liberated area of Douma/Damascus to Raqqa in northern Syria, only to find themselves eventually forced to leave their home country for a temporary exile in Turkey.   While Yassin was detained in 1980 at the age... more

The selection for Bidayyat's Documentary grant 2014 for emerging Syrian and Syrian-Palestinian filmmakers has been successfully made. The independent jury - composed of three professional filmmakers -  Syrian filmmaker and producer Hala Alabdalla, Lebanese filmmaker Rania Stephan and Moroccan filmmaker Ali Essafi - had a difficult choice to make, given the creative and unique approach each single of the 35 submitted film projects. The three jury members agreed on 9 projects... more

To submit you project please click on the link for more details: bidayyat.org/ar/production

Bidayyat is thrilled to announce that its inhouse production documentary "Our terrible country" (85 min, 2014) - directed by Mohammad Ali Atassi and Ziad Homsi was awarded the GRAND PRIX OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION by the International Competition Jury at the International Film Festival Marseille in France. The jury was composed of Wang BING as President, Shaina ANAND, Dora GARCIA, Andrea LISSONI and Manuel MOZOS. http://www.fidmarseille.org/index.php/fr/festival/palmares-2013b   ‘Our Terrible Country’ takes us on the perilous... more

Bidayyat production "Street Music" by Orwa Mokdad wins Samir Qassir Award 2014 as best audiovisual report - congrets to Orwa Mokdad!  For all those, who have not yet watched the film, catch up on it now here 

The short film "A dream of powerful monsters" by Lina AlAbed - a Bidayyat 2013 short film production - was awarded among 3 other shorts at the Arab Short Film Festival Beirut 2014.  Moreover, three other short film productions were shown at the Medina Theater from May 23 to May 26, 2014. The selected films are: MiG by Thaer Al Sahli 99 Degrees by Rawad Alzakout A dream of powerful monster by Lina Alabed Sage by... more