Three Master classes with A-list Arab Filmmakers at Revart Film Festival

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Sherif El Bendary, Mohanad Hayal and Amjad Abu Alala

Three Master classes with A-list Arab Filmmakers at Revart Film Festival


RFF-Revart Film Festival announced that its first edition (May 4-6) will include three masterclasses with three renowned Arab directors; the Egyptian director Sherif El Bendary, Iraqi director Mohanad Hayal and Sudanese director Amjad Abu Alala. Marking Egypt's first online vertical film festival, RFF-Revart Film Festival aims to promote creativity in filmmaking at the times of self-quarantine. The films selection will be ccessible for everyone online.
The Festival’s Judging Panel includes; DOP and director Ahmad AlMorsy, scriptwriter Tamer Habib, and the director and actor Ahmad Magdy.

The masterclasses will be screened in live videos through the festival's official Instgram page on the following link:

www.instagram.com/rff.eg/

On Friday, May 1, Sherif El Bendary’s masterclass: " Short films: From the Idea to Screenwriting) will take place at 10:00 PM; Mohanad Hayal’s masatercalss, held under the title"Directing First-time Actors", is slated to take place on Saturday, May 2 at 10:00 PM; and Amjad Abu Alala’s mastercalss titled: "From a Short Film to a Feature-length Film) is slated to be held on Sunday, May 3 at 10:00 PM.
Recently, MAD Solutions revealed a new partnership with the newly curated RFF-Revart Film Festival, in which it will be responsible for the festival’s marketing and distribution. Slated to take place May 4-6, the RFF- Revart Film Festival's agenda will be available for everyone online: (film selection - workshops - panel discussions - film screenings). The submission deadline is Thursday, April 30. The awards and winners will be revealed on Thursday, May 7th, 2020.

Sherif El Bendary is an Egyptian director who helmed many notable films. His filmography includes his first short fiction, Sabah El Fol (Rise and Shine), which was officially selected in more than 75 film festivals in 33 countries, followed by his short film At Day's End (2008) which was inspired by salient writer Ibrahim Aslan's novella. Sherif directed Curfew, a chapter that was part of the collective feature 18 Days, the film which was an official selection at Cannes Film Festival 2011. Sherif's repertoire also includes films such as: the documentary Fil Tarik Le West El Balad and the short film Dry Hot Summers, which landed its European premiere within the Official Competition of the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. In 2013, El Bendary was selected as a jury member at the Shorts and Animations Competition within the Ismailia International Film Festival for Documentaries and Shorts. Ali, the Goat and Ibrahim is El Bendary’s debut feature film.

Born in Iraq, Mohanad Hayal graduated from Baghdad University’s Faculty of Fine Arts & Cinema and then worked as assistant director on several award-winning Iraqi feature films. He has made number of short and documentary films. His short Happy Birthday was selected for the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival and received the Rising Star Award at the 2013 Rhode International Film Festival. His latest feature film Haifa Street is his feature debut and was selected as one of the most important African, Middle Eastern and Arab projects at the Venice International Film Festival (Final Cut). Currently based in Baghdad, Hayal conducts filmmaking workshops as one of the founders of the Iraqi Independent Film Centre, and presides the Film Production Department at the Iraqi Ministry of Culture.

Amjad Abu Alala is an award-winning Sudanese director who spent most of his life in the United Arab Emirates. After a long experience in working on TV documentaries and short films, he finally made his debut feature-length film, You Will Die At Twenty, which was selected in several film festivals. The film screened at Venice Film Festival, where it won Lion of the Future - "Luigi De Laurentiis" Venice Award for a Debut Film, the Toronto International Film Festival and El Gouna Film Festival where it landed its Arab world premiere and won El Gouna Golden Star for Narrative Film. The film also won Golden Tanit Award at the Carthage Film Festival

Marking the first online vertical film festival in Egypt, RFF-Revart Film Festival's first edition aims to introduce the modern dimension of creativity of the Arab storytelling talent through films that all they need to create is to rotate mobile screen 90 degrees. The festival was scheduled to launch earlier this year in a public ceremony with the presence of the festival jury, however it was postponed in the light of the protective measures against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Soon, it was decided the festival shall take place to promote creativity at the times of self-quarantine.

Films eligible to the festival should be: less than 3 minutes of length, filmed entirely in-home, the film's aspect ratio must be vertical (9:16), the applicants must reside in Egypt during the period of the festival, shooting with smartphone cameras or any type of camera is eligible, the film's theme, genre, and story is open, a filmmaker can submit more than one film, but only one film by the same filmmaker will be selected. The winning films will be selected by the festival jury in addition to an audience award that will be revealed online.