Ayny Opens the First Edition of Animate Palestine Festival

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Followed by a Panel Discussion with Director Ahmed Saleh

Ayny Opens the First Edition of Animate Palestine Festival


Director Ahmad Saleh's animated short film Ayny will be take part in the 1st edition of the Animate Palestine Festival (Animate. Ps) (9-13 April). The film will be screened on Sunday, the 9th of April at 07:00 pm. A panel discussion conducted by director Ahmed Saleh will be held on the 11th of April at 10:00 am at the theatre of the New Campus of An-Najah National University. During the panel discussion, Saleh will discuss the different phases in making his film Ayny.

During this week, Aynywill have other three screenings at the Alfilm - Arab Film Festival Berlin, organized by the Center for Arab Film, Arts and Culture (Makan). The screenings will be on Sunday, Monday and Thursday, with English subtitles and with the attendance of the film's director.

The Animate.ps aims at discussing the current situation of the animation industry and ways of developing it. The festival is introducing the Palestinian community to the animation sector to develop the capabilities of the young talents to find jobs in this field and to promote the animation industry to levels and quality commensurate with the requirements of the regional and international markets.
Based on true events, Ayny follows two young boys who run away from their mother's protection and slack line on the danger of war to play music with the instrument they always dreamt to own. The film is written, directed, edited and voiced by Ahmad Saleh, music by NizarRohana, animated by Frank Pingel, DOP Lionel PoutiaireSomé, produced by Stefan Gieren,and its Arab world distribution will be handled by MAD Solutions. The film is a co-production between Germany, Jordan, and Palestine.

The Student Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Animation,Aynylanded itsworld premiere at the 13th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) where it completed within the Muhr Short competition. The film took part in the Beirut Cinema Days and Sudan Independent Film Festival (SIFF).

Ahmad Saleh is a writer/director based in Germany. His first work was a collection of short stories titled Zowwada. This collection was awarded the A.M. Qattan Foundation's Young Writer Award in 2004 in Palestine. Saleh's first short film House, which he made as part of his Master's in Digital Media at the University of Arts Bremen in Germany, had a successful festival run before it was released in 2012. The film earned several important awards in Europe, USA, Iran and Jordan.

Recently, he finished another Master's study in Film, in which he wrote and directed two more short films (Circle, MaaBaa) and started writing his first feature. His graduation project Ayny won a Golden Oscar at the Student Academy Awards 2016 in the Foreign Animation category.

Screening Times of Ayny at the Alfilm - Arab Film Festival Berlin (GMT +2)
Thursday, the 6th of April at 07:00 pm at Arsenal Cinema