Canvas on Mixed Media by Jalal Maghout, Syria, 2012
Synopsis
Crows are more humane than we think. There are many logical reasons to explain why this creature is not a bad omen.
Today, even if we believe in the traditional superstition, in the midst of the surrounding destruction, we still beg for hope and salvation from this ominous creature.
Here, the crow no longer collects shiny things. Shiny things automatically make their way to a deserted place instead of hitting their targets. They travel to a dark spot far away so that life can continue.
Biography
Jalal Maghout, a Syrian animation filmmaker and visual artist, was born in Damascus in 1987. He graduated in 2010 from the Damascus University of Fine Arts. He became a teacher assistant in the same faculty in 2011 and 2012.
His first independent short film was Creatures of Inexistence and has been screened in many cultural spaces and festivals in Syria and Lebanon. His second film is Canvas on Mixed Media.
As well as animation, Jalal has worked on many other projects such as music videos, video art, photography, and painting.
"A creative powerful visual approach of Syria’s horror with a hint of dark humor."
Soudade Kaadan, MADE in MED jury member
Creatures of Inexistence
Plastic Wings
Wall Asks: Okay? by Ahmed Hermassi, Tunisia, 2012
Synopsis
Before and during the revolution, graffiti illustrates a page of the Tunisian history and belongs to every citizen's daily visual universe.
This three-minute film shows the evolution of a wall under an avalanche of contradictory messages from people bursting to express themselves after years of censorship.
Biography
Ahmed Hermassi started off as an amateur painter before starting studies in Visual Arts at the School of Fine Arts. His work has earned him many prestigious awards.
In 2007 he turned to Media Arts where he discovered a new passion for audiovisual arts. His many short films include Journal intime de Sousse which won the third prize at the Kelibia International Amateur Film Festival.
He currently works at sustainable development non-governmental organisation GDA Sidi Amor.
"A white wall reveals the story of a country. A simple and a witty film."
Soudade Kaadan, MADE in MED jury member
"I have always looked closely at the changes and the evolution of the society in which I live in so that I can reinterpret them with my own point of view. Sometimes people like it, sometimes they do not, but either way they never are indifferent, which I think is very funny.
After years of silence when the political landscape was covered up by censorship, a tsunami of debates and controversies flooded the Tunisian public space until people started to feel like it was too much and that they had enough.
Wandering in the streets of Tunis, I got the idea of putting together the most recurrent messages that are painted on the walls and reproduced them in a 3-minute video.
At first the video was made for a Tunisian audience that understands the context of these messages. First of all, the title "Walls Ask: Okay?" is a typical Tunisian joke. After meeting a huge success on Tunisian social networks, I had the idea of diffusing it abroad, and Euromed Audiovisual appeared as the best way to do so.
By participating to this competition, I was not after a prize, I just wanted the movie to be seen by the most people possible and I wanted some feedback too. And I received the first prize! This news comes just as I am launching a network for young Tunisian directors and producers… What a great coincidence!" ~Ahmed Hermassi
The House Game by Mohamad ElWassify, Egypt, 2012
Synopsis
Can Youssef continue his game without Yasmin? The House Game is based on a short story written by Youssef Idris.
Biography
Egyptian filmmaker Mohamad ElWassify graduated from the Egyptian Film Institute in 2011.
Living in the Nile, his first short documentary film and his graduation project, was selected for the Munich International Film Festival for film schools 2011, Skena up International Film Festival in Kosovo 2011, the Al Jazeera Documentary Film Festival 2012, and the AMAL Euro-Arab Film Festival in Spain 2012.
The film was awarded Best Short Documentary at Zayed University International film festival - UAE 2012.
The House Game was awarded Best Arabic Film in Cairo International Film Festival for Children 2012 and the second prize for Best Short Film in the same festival. The film also won the Euromed Audiovisual MADE in MED short film contest.
"A sweet story of a boy and a girl trying to negotiate the rules of ‘house game’"
Soudade Kaadan, MADE in MED jury member
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