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Title: Doha panellists call for "CAA of the Arab world"

October 28, 2010

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Doha panellists call for "CAA of the Arab world"

28 October, 2010 | By Liz Shackleton

Panellists at the on-going Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF) spoke of the need to create pan-Arab talent agencies as a key step

in the development of a regional film industry.

Is there a star system in the Arab world? asked Quinta Communications Tarak Ben Ammar at a panel about emerging starsduring the festivals Doha Talks series. It certainly needs to be developed and in order to do that we need to understand the Arab

world which has huge potential and is unfortunately very under-developed.

The regions largest film market, Egypt, is the only one with an established star system it has produced major stars such asactress Yosra who is serving as president of the DTFF jury.

However as most other markets in North Africa and the Middle East are small, panellists said it makes sense for them to createstars that have impact across the region.

Ben Ammar went on to explain how he is attempting to create regional stars with films like Black Gold, to be co-financed by theDoha Film Institute (see separate story), which stars French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim alongside Antonio Banderas and FreidaPinto. The cast also includes 40 Tunisian actors and thesps from Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco.

We need a CAA of the Arab world and Im exploring with some partners how we can create one to help orientate actors intocinema, TV and advertisements, said Ben Ammar, referring to the powerful US talent agency.

Ahmed El Attar, who cast the Arab actors in Black Gold, said the region lacks expertise both in casting movies and managing

and advising talent: We need something thats pan-Arab and can also take stars beyond the regiona lot of Arab actors speakArabic, French and German. There are a lot of talented actors who can play the roles that Omar Sharif played 50 years ago.

Ben Ammar also pointed to the regions TV industry as a potential star factory at least until more cinemas are built and the filmindustry catches up: Weve seen in the past ten years during Ramadan the production of TV series that give actors the chance to

work on 30 episodes.

He also talked about the success of the Turkish TV industry: Theyve cornered the TV market with incredible series andwonderful actorsand theyve invaded the Middle East with very good-looking and European-looking Muslim actors positioned

in a very smart way.

The panel also looked at the star-driven film industries of Hollywood and Bollywood to see what lessons they hold for theMiddle East. Both are heavily dependent on stars, although former CAA co-chairman Rick Nicita spoke about the fact that

Hollywood stars dont have the clout they once had.

The star system hasnt gone, but the value of stars has changed, said Nicita. Theyused to guarantee box office, but now itscome down to legitimisation of the focus on the movie. They can help break through the clutter in the media, but the collective

judgment of the audience could still be that we dont want to see this.

The panel closed with Pinto, who is attending the fest with Julian Schnabels Miral, taking to the stage to announce that twoQatari actorsMohammed Al-Ibrahim and Helmy Ibrahimhave won bit parts in Black Gold following an auditioning process.

The film is scheduled to shoot in Qatar for four weeks in January.