Copro & Storydoc. Tel Aviv and Ramallah
Israeli and Palestinian film projects in development. I am in the airport in Tel Aviv waiting to go home after a week in Tel Aviv and Ramallah. Last year I was full of anger when I arrived to the airport because of checkpoint stops and constant humiliating questioning from the Israeli soldiers and security people at the checkpoints and in the airport. This year no problems at all, no stops, no questions. It depends on their mood and how you greet them, said the smiling driver, who took us from Ramallah to Ben Gurion airport. Through green areas (for the Israelis) and occupied rocky dry landscapes (for the Palestinians)!
In terms of the film projects they are basically of the same nature – with different approaches of course – from both sides. Character driven stories, television duration, most of them, dealing with conflicts and injustice, intolerance and racism. Creative documentaries in different stages of development, research, production and one or two in post-production. Needless to say that the financial conditions for the Israeli filmmakers are so much better than for the Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank or Gaza.
The around 20 projects from Israel will be presented to potential buyers and commissioning editors late May during the Israeli Documentary Screen Market May 29-June 3.
The 12-14 Palestinian projects will be pitched to buyers and editors, who go from the CoPro in Tel Aviv to Ramallah.doc, the day after the event in Tel Aviv. Out of the collection of Palestinian projects 4 projects were picked to participate in the Storydoc 2012, that consists of two sessions, first one in Athens, second in Leipzig, with an extra to be held with more Mediterranean projects in Egypt beginning of July.
In Tel Aviv as well as in Ramallah, the filmmakers were tutored by filmmakers, tv editors for documentaries and film consultants. Photo from Sho’qostak (What’s Your Story?), shown at Jerusalem Film Festival, by Pauline Carbonnier and Jamal Khalaile, one of the Storydoc selected projects in Ramallah. The two want to make a philosophical sequel to this film in a conceptual manner. The link below gives a description of the first film.
