Documentaries and 3D animation in focus at Arab Media Forum

Dubai: Organisers of the Arab Media Forum (AMF) say the 14th edition of the forum will exclusively represent clips from the BBC Arabic documentary Slaves of the Caliphate by journalist Nareen Shammo and the 3D animation epic movie Bilal by author Ayman Jamal in two separate 20-minute sessions.

As the Middle East has been undergoing major changes in the past few years, two new media methods have emerged; the use of documentaries, and the use of 3D animations.

Many journalists have used short documentaries to convey social agonies that would be lost in the wave of news. While the use of 3D animations helps shed light on sometimes unnoticed media-related issues.

Highlighting this new aspect of media, AMF’s Organising Committee is hosting, in a 20-minute session, journalist Shammo, who will talk about her experience as she visited and interviewed some women who survived being captured in Mount Sinjar, Northern Iraq.

Today, Shammo is known in the region and worldwide as the Yazidi activist, who told the story of captured Yazidi women to the world through the BBC Arabic documentary.

Meanwhile, the AMF will also host the Saudi author Jamal who wrote and produced the 3D animation Bilal, which tells the life of Bilal Bin Rabah and his courage facing the injustices that were inflicted upon his family, mother and sister, in a time of tyranny. The film includes more than 80 main and subordinate characters.

The movie will depict the true stories of symbols in Islamic history whose great devotion went unnoticed by the media.

The AMF is set to take place on May 12-13 at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.