Manama: A special fund has been established to help young film-makers enhance their skills and realise their ambitions.
The initiative by the Ministry of Culture will boost the burgeoning local industry and investments in local cultural infrastructure, officials said.
A jury of local and international experts in the field will oversee the selection process and provide winning entries with support funds, reaching a maximum of $10,000 (Dh36,729_ for each film project, Mohammad Rashid Bu Ali, a Bahraini director and manager of the Gulf Cinema Nights programme, said.
“This is an important new scheme, designed to encourage creativity in the field of film-making,” Bu Ali said. “I am very excited at the opportunity of seeing the winning entries and the subsequent films next year. Manama will be the Capital of Arab Tourism in 2013 and I think it will be particularly complementary to release the first products of this fund to regional and international audiences then.”
Under the criteria for the selection, applicants must be Bahrainis and the scripts and music scores must be original. The project must not have been filmed or produced in any form previously and Bahraini culture and values have to be respected.
“It is hoped that this fund will enable young and new talents to surface and that a viable film-making industry, capable of competing with its regional and international counterparts, will grow and prosper in Bahrain.”
