Birds’ Eye View (UK), Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival (Turkey), Regards de Femmes International Film Festival (Tunisia) & Women Make Waves International Film Festival (Taiwan) we’re thrilled to announce the FILMONOMICS training programme participants as part of RECLAIM THE FRAME X INTERNATIONAL.
Following an open and globally circulated call for applications, the consortia behind the Reclaim The Frame x International project are today proud to reveal the writers, directors and producers selected as part of our 2022-2023 Filmonomics training programme which will run online from September 2022 through to International Women’s Day in March 2023.
Launched on International Women’s Day in March 2022, Reclaim the Frame x International aims to to support culturally diverse women & non-binary filmmakers based across Lebanon, Turkey, Tunisia, Taiwan and the UK through the circulation of works, and through a professional development programme: Filmonomics.
Together, we aim to create a network which advocates for, and builds audiences for, films by women & non-binary creatives as part of our shared mission for gender diversity and inclusion in cinema – learning from each other along the way.
The bespoke programme (Film + Economics) is a business-training programme which balances creative and commercial aspects of filmmaking and production.
Announcing the selected participants (pictured L-R)
Aephie Chen, UK, Writer/Director. Aycan Aluçlu, Turkey, Producer. Belkıs Bayrak, Turkey, Writer/Director/Producer. Burcak Dilekli, Turkey, Writer/Director/Producer. Cemre Yilmaz, Turkey, Writer/Director/Producer. Chia-Hsuan Tan, Taiwan. Writer/Director/Producer. Derya Durmaz, Germany, Writer/Director/Producer. Hala El Kouch, Lebanon, Writer/Director/Producer. Emna Mrabet, France, Writer/Director. H. Işık, Turkey, Writer/Director. Marie-Rose Osta, Lebanon. Writer/Director. Merve Bozcu, Turkey, Writer/Director/Producer. J Triangular, Taiwan, Writer/Director. Safa Ghali, Tunisia, Writer/Director/Producer. Sana Jaziri, Tunisia, Writer/Director. Sheng Ting Shen, US, Director. Sis Gurdal, Spain, Writer/Director/Producer. Yara Lahoud, Lebanon, Writer/Director.
The course will be led by: Melanie Iredale (Birds’ Eye View Director) and Simone Glover (Birds’ Eye View Training Manager), with input from Isra Al Kassi (Birds’ Eye View Head of Programmes and Development), Azza Jedidi & Manel Souissi (Regards de Femmes), Fatma Edemen & Nil Kural (Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival), Huei-Yin-Chen & Yi Chou (Women Make Waves International Film Festival)
Speakers and coaches will include
Amy Ma (CEO & producer MA Studios, Director THE GREATER GOOD, THE AMERICAN GIRL, US/UK/Taiwan), Anna Seifert-Speck (Script and story consultant, UK), Annette Corbett (coach, UK), Azra Deniz Okyay (Director/writer GHOSTS, Turkey), Carmen Gray (film critic/arts journalist/ programmer at Berlinale, Germany), Edima Otuokon (Ladima Foundation, Nigeria) Gülengül Altıntaş (Script consultant and trainer, Turkey), Isona Admetlla (Fund Co-ordinator at World Cinema Fund Germany), Kate Leys (Script & Story Editor, UK), Khalil Benkirane, (Head of Grant at Doha Film Institute, Qatar), Lucila Moctezuma (Program Director at Chicken & Egg, US), Lucy Jones (Executive Director at Comscore, UK), Margje de Koning (Artistic Director at Movies That Matter, Netherlands), Dr Maxa Zoller (Artistic Director at Frauen Film Festival, Germany), Paul Sng (Co-director, POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHE, UK), Sonali Joshi (Founder & Director, Day for Night, UK), Viktorija Cook (Acquisitions Consultant Film Republic, UK).
Our Director Melanie Iredale said: “On behalf of the partners, we’re excited to announce the latest Filmonomics cohort as part of our Reclaim The Frame x International project, each incredibly talented individual will bring a range of visions and experiences as they develop what stood out to the consortia as compelling feature film projects. They’re on a journey we feel privileged to share and champion over the next eight months, bringing the group together from Lebanon, Taiwan, Turkey, Tunisia and beyond for International peer-to-peer learning and support, and to introduce them to a stellar line up of coaches and speakers from around the world”.
PARTICIPANT PROFILES
Aephie Chen: is an interdisciplinary filmmaker, artist, curator working across Taiwan, UK and Iceland. She has lived in twenty-nine countries and the stories she explores often re-imagine identities, narrating relationships in a contemporary multicultural society.
Aycan Aluçlu: After completing her bachelor’s degree at the Department of Economics, she started to work in the production and coordination departments of Nar Film. She has been involved in production, project development, and funding on freelance projects. Aluçlu is an alumna of Sarajevo Talents 2019. She is producing her cinema projects under the roof of her company, Surrealland.
Belkıs Bayrak: is a filmmaker who received her MA degree in Film and Television from Istanbul Bilgi University in 2019. She made two short films The Apartment (2018) and Cemile (2021). She founded Saba Film in 2020.
Burcak Dilekli: Born in Turkey, she graduated from METU where she studied international relations and European studies, before studying Acting at State Conservatory. Later, she was accepted to the Film and Drama program focusing on writing, directing and acting. Currently, she continues working as a script writer and actress.
Cemre Yilmaz: In 2016, she graduated from Ankara University Cinema Department, before returning to complete her Masters in which she’s writing her thesis about the post-cinema era. Currently, she is working as a freelance director and producer on several projects and continues to shoot promotional videos.
Chia-Hsuan Tan: is a Taiwanese filmmaker whose career has also developed around China and the US. Chia-Hsuan has a BA degree in Anthropology from National Taiwan University. This background in cultural and humanities studies has deeply affected her approach in filmmaking .She’s currently writing a story focusing on female basketball players in Asia, hoping to raise public interest in female athletes and their difficult situation.
Derya Durmaz: Her first short film Ziazan (2014) received 11 awards and full coverage in Washington Post and Monocle magazine. Her second short Mother Virgin No More (2015) premiered at the Berlinale Generations. She is a Berlinale Talents, Toronto TIFF Filmmaker Lab, First Films First and Film Independent Global Media Maker alumna. Her first feature film project won the Berlinale Talent Project Market Talent Highlight Award.
Hala El Kouch: is an international award-winning Lebanese film director and photographer. She is also a writer, editor, film teacher, and voice-over artist. She grew up in Nigeria, then moved to Lebanon for her studies in 2008. With a Masters in film directing, she specialized in cinematherapy. Her main motto in life is to make films with a cause for a cause.
Emna Mrabet: Raised in Tunisia, Emna Mrabet mad two short films; Paroles d’exilés (2008) and Absence (2010). A l’Aube de nos rêves (2019) is her latest documentary about post-revolutionary Tunisia. Her films have been featured in several festivals, including PCMMO, Rendez-vous de l’histoire de Blois, Festival du Cinéma Méditerranéen de Tétouan. With a PHD in cinema, she is also a university teacher, researcher, critic and the author of the book Le cinéma d’Abdellatif Kechiche: Prémisses et devenir (2016).
Işık: lives in Istanbul, Turkey. They graduated from Boğaziçi University, Department of Sociology, and will start a master’s degree in Visual Arts and Visual Communication Design at Sabancı University. Işık is a nonbinary filmmaker whose areas of interest are family, gender, body, and violence. Their short documentary, Witness (2022), focuses on the emotions of women and LGBTIA+s within a student movement.
Marie-Rose Osta: is a Lebanese script writer and director. She graduated with a Master’s Degree in Filmmaking, from ALBA University in Beirut. She independently directed and produced many shorts films that traveled internationally to renowned festivals. Her latest short film Then Came Dark (2021) premiered at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival and won The Special Jury Award in 2021. lMarie-Rose is currently developing her debut feature film.
Merve Bozcu: After completing her B.A. at Istanbul Technical University, she started the M.A. program in Cinema and Television at Kadir Has University. She directed a feature documentary, Her First (2018), about the challenges faced by women filmmakers in Turkey and a short movie, Plastic Dream (2021), about the pressure/effects of the beauty industry on women. She was selected by Sarajevo Talents 2022, Pack & Pitch Programme with her second fiction short focusing on domestic violence. She continues her works as a producer & director & writer.
J Triangular: is an Experimental Filmmaker, Multimedia Poet, and Spiritual Activist. Colombia Born, Taiwan Based. Their work reflects on queer spaces, mental health, identity and consciousness, and HIV activism. They see cinema as a social practice.
Safa Ghali: After getting her engineering degree in statistics and data analysis, she decided to pursue her dream and joined a cinematographic school. She directed 5 short movies and has participated in Tunisian festivals and abroad. In 2019, she got her Masters degree in writing and directing from ESAC. She is currently writing her Phd thesis in cinema.
Sana Jaziri: is a Tunisian director and scriptwriter who graduated with a doctorate in cinema from Pantheon University in Paris. She worked as a scriptwriter and script supervisor in France, Hong Kong and Morocco. Her short film The Wheelbarrow (2015) has won several awards.
Sheng Ting Shen: Born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, Sheng-Ting Shen is a director, editor, and producer currently living in New York. Sheng-Ting’s short film Bad News (2020) was selected and won over 15 international film festivals. Her latest short film, The Coolest Club (2022) is on its festival run.
Sis Gurdal: is an award-winning writer, director, and producer from Turkey. Sis studied International Politics and Film Studies at King’s College, London. Following her graduation, she worked on numerous short films and produced campaigns for brands including Prada, Zara and Vogue USA. Sis is a Tiff Every Story Fellow and an alumna of Cine Qua Non Lab, Doha Film Institute’s Hezayah Screenwriting Lab and TiFF Filmmaker Lab. Her short film, Postcards from The Orient (2020) screened at the BAFTA qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival and won multiple awards.
Yara Lahoud: journeys by storytelling through scriptwriting and film directing. She advocates for human rights, peace and women’s empowerment through her films and creative projects. Yara collaborated with production companies and national filmmakers on a variety of projects, including short films, documentaries, and series. She also works as a screenwriter for various platforms (youtube, short films, Instagram, websites). She was in charge of numerous health awareness sessions held in schools, initiatives, and workshops, for which she used her creative direction during the execution phase. Yara also devotes her time to learning opportunities and influential initiatives that promote peace through media and film.
RECLAIM THE FRAME x INTERNATIONAL is funded by the British Council’s International Collaboration Grants, which are designed to support UK and overseas organisations to collaborate on international arts projects.
