Arab cinema comes of age

They make Arab films that Arabs will never see because of a supressed digital democracy.

The films are self-funded, short, independent and made by Arabs about the societies they live in. But few ever watch them.

Mohammad Makhlouf, programmer of the Arabian Shorts, held a discussion session on Tuesday with young film makers and directors from the Arabian Shorts section.

They were an elite group - only 12 short films were chosen from 200.

"It was frustrating to throw away so many other films. I chose the best films, the films that put their finger on an Arab wound. Some films I selected simply for their originality," Makhlouf said.

The Dubai festival is one of the only places in the Arab world where Arab short films are shown. Eight were shown last year, and Makhlouf said he hoped numbers would increase.

"I call these the Arab films never seen by Arabs."

He said Arabs needed to urgently see short films made by their own people, to fight complacency.

"Arab television only shows videoclips. The message is: forget the problems in Iraq, forget the problems in Palestine, there are no problems with free speech. Forget, eat, drink, be merry."

He said Arab governments were too "frightened" to broadcast Arab short films - a form of digital democracy.

"These are indepedent films treating the problems of their societies. They aren't funded by an old guard who will tell them what to write."

Makhlouf said Arab governments had to see the issue differently.

"We need to help these kids make films. They are the future of our image, they know the psychology of how others think, how to address them in their languages."