- Tarak Bahadur KC, PhD - [email protected] 1 Negotiation Skills.
Tarak Ben Ammar and the Jasmine Revolution - Screen International April 2011
2
IntervIew tarak ben ammar The jasmine media mogul Quinta Communications chief Tarak Ben Ammar talks to Col Bo about his role in the recent popular uprising in Tunisia and what he believes are the implications for the Arab entertainment business ■ Ben Ammar created Carthago Films in Tunisia in 1974. It serviced high-profle shoots in the country including The Life Of Brian, Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost Ark . Ben Ammar went on to invest and produce his own flms; his credits includeLa Traviata, Femme Fatale, Hannibal Rising and the upcoming Black Gold . ■ In 1990, Ben Ammar created Paris-based Quinta Communications in partnership with Silvio Berlusconi.Initially a production entity, Quinta moved into rights trading and distribution, releasing Passion Of The Christ in France in 2004. ■In 1995, Ben Ammar became a board member o Berlusconi’s Mediaset. ■In 2005, Ben Ammar invested $42.7m (€30m) in The Weinstein Company and joined its board. He acquired Italy’s Eagle Pictures in 2007. ■ In 2007, he opened LTC-Gammarth labs and post-production in Tunisia. Two years later, he launched North Arican satellite network Nessma TV with Mediaset and the Karoui Group. ■ Ben Ammar’s digital post-product ion acilities empire in France includes Duran Duboi, Les Audis de Joinville and a 43% stake in the venerable Eclair Group. FFl Brking nw Fo the latest flm busess es see ceeDaly.com I n February Quinta, Communications’ CEO Tarak Ben Ammar was in his native Tunisia, overseeing production on Jean-Jacques Annaud’s $55m Arabian oil epic Black Gold , when the nation rose up in revolt. Just 23 days later President Ben Ali was ousted, ending 23 years of autocratic rule and sparking the Jasmine Revolution that is reverberating across theArabic-speakingworld. Helping to give voice to that popular uprising was Nessma TV, the satellite broadcast network Ben Ammar co- founded in 2008 with Silvio Berlusconi’s Mediaset and the Karoui brothers’ advertising agency. Nessma means “gentle breeze” in Arabic, a name that reects one of the network’s underlying missions: to use the gentle power of entertainment to help moderate and modernise the hearts and minds of an Arab population that might otherwise gravitate towards closed-minde d radicalism.Twothirds of the 90 million people living in the Maghreb – the North African land mass west of Egypt – are aged 25 or younger, an impressionable demographic whose cultural horizons are largely dened by what they see on the small screen. Ben Ammar, whose uncle, Habib Bourguiba, was the architect of Tunisia’s independence and the country’s rst president, is now developing a feature about Mohamed Bouazizi, the street vendor whose self-immolation ignited the initial protests. Your Nessma network deed the Tunisian regime by broadcasting protest reports. What role did Nessma play, both on air and online, in facilitating the uprising? Tarak Ben Ammar Nessma was the only media outlet that was allowed to go to [the town of] Sidi Bouzid, where Mohamed Bouazizi was from and had set re to himself, and interview his family and the inhabitants of the town. Sidi Bouzid was where the revolution started. When we aired the programme on December 30, we did so without showing ■18 ScreenInternational April 2011 en mmar: “We need to create a much more robust domestic market for rab ms.” ‘It has become hip now to be Arab, which, let’s be honest, it hasn’t been for some time’ TaaBemma, Quta Commucatos ‘The percepTion of TV as a fallback for acTor s looking To end Their careers wiTh a sTeady pay check has changed’ tv drama, p23 » April 2011 ScreenInternational 19■ it to the government or the ministry of information, despite their request. Then we put in on Facebook, so that people who had missed it the rst time would still be able to see it online. We were threatened by the government, but by then it was too late. Nessma helped open the door and within two weeks the revolution had spread across the whole country and [then- president Zine El Abidine] Ben Ali ed on January 15. Never before in an Arab regime under dictatorship had you seen a channel like Nessma air a completely unedited and uncensored programme like we did on December 30. Our Facebook site has more than 200,000 friends. Of course my partners, the Karoui brothers, and I knew we were taking a risk but we felt it was a necessary risk to take. The government threatened to shut us down and also to send the station’s general manager to prison, but we persisted. The authorities ultimately didn’t dare to take action against us because they knew I had legitimacy – rstly, through my ties to founding president, Habib Bourguiba, and secondly because I had brought so much work over the years to my country through lm and TV productions. Also because they knew that one of my partners was Mediaset, a major European media company. My guess is the newly empowered youth movements across the Arab world will want to see their own stories being told on the screen. Will the independent lm-makers from the Arab world we see at festivals now become a force in their local entertainment industries? And, given nanciers’ natural aversion to uncertainty, how long will it take for capital to back a new entertainmentinfrastructure? TBA It reminds me of the time I was a student in the US during the late 1960s. It was the time of “I’m Black and I’m proud”. I think that’s relevant to Tunisia and Egypt. We’re seeing the youth there saying: “I’m Arab and I’m proud.” It has become hip now to be Arab, which, let’s be honest, it hasn’t been for some time. The big question remains where is the market for these emerging Arab lm- makers. We need to create a much more the youth of Tunisia they had to work hard and earn their place. That was a lesson I learned myself as I was seeking to forge ahead with my career as a lm producer. Bourguiba placed an emphasis on givingwomen complete,constitutiona lly enshrined equality as well as ensuring the Tunisian youth had [access to] good education. Those are the foundations of modern Tunisia today and why I am so hopeful about Tunisia’s future as it makes the transition to democracy. I don’t think it is a coincidence that both Tunisia and Egypt, the two countries where we have seen revolutions this year, do not have oil. The real wealth in those countries is not in their soil but in the young people who walk on its land. They are the ones who will build their countries. That is exactly the question we ask in Black Gold and why the events of this year in the Arab world have made the lm so timely – the lm asks the question whether oil is a blessing or a curse. I still don’t think we have a denitive answer to that question, more than 70 years after we rst discovered oil in the Arab world. n s robust domestic market for Arab lms, which certainly already exists for Egyptian lm-makers but far less so for lm- makers from other parts of the region, as well as ensure the quality and vision of these lms is good enough to translate andexport internationa lly. Obviously Quinta is investing in Arab lms, as this is important for us. You also have nanciers in the region, such as the Doha Film Institute [in Qatar], who are making positive contributions as well. When I rst wanted to make Black Gold 30 years ago I had interest from one of the major American studios, Paramount. One of the questions they asked me then was: why didn’t I have any Arab money on board? At that time, in the late 1970s, we had seen the rst big boom in Gulf petro-dollar s, so it seemed this would be a region rife with potential investors. Though I was still a young man without a big reputation in the lm business, I had access, thanks to my family, to some of the most important people in this region. I met with a number of important people. I kept getting the same quizzical look and the response: “You cannot be serious.” The name of the game back then was banking, real estate, oil, gas and defence. More than 30 years later, I asked myself, have things changed? Are they still only interested in oil and gas, real estate and armaments? Or have they begun to see the value and importance of culture and the media? The fact that the Doha Film Institute is partner and co-producer on Black Gold , a lm lled with Arab heroes and histories on an international scale, is a measure of how things are changing and will continue to change for the better in the weeks, months and years ahead. From what I have read, if the Arab world had had more presidents like your uncle, Habib Bourguiba, we might have seen far more gradual transitions and far less of the popular anger, even allowing for the very different times we now live in. What are your personal memories of him? TBA I will never forget how my uncle would tell me in private how happy he was Tunisia didn’t have any oil or gas. He would tell me it allowed him to convince en mmar was on the unisian set of Quinta’s $55m ack God when the popuar uprising began q q q
Transcript of Tarak Ben Ammar and the Jasmine Revolution - Screen International April 2011
8/7/2019 Tarak Ben Ammar and the Jasmine Revolution - Screen International April 2011
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/tarak-ben-ammar-and-the-jasmine-revolution-screen-international-april-2011 1/1
IntervIew tarak ben ammar
The jasmine media mogulQuinta Communications chief Tarak Ben Ammar talks to Col Bo about his role in the recent popularuprising in Tunisia and what he believes are the implications for the Arab entertainment business
■ Ben Ammar createdCarthago Films in Tunisiain 1974. It servicedhigh-profle shoots inthe country including The
Life Of Brian, Star Wars and Raiders Of The Lost
Ark . Ben Ammar went onto invest and producehis own flms; his creditsinclude La Traviata,Femme Fatale, Hannibal
Rising and the upcoming
Black Gold .
■ In 1990, Ben Ammarcreated Paris-basedQuinta Communicationsin partnership with SilvioBerlusconi. Initiallya production entity,Quinta moved into rightstrading and distribution,releasing Passion Of The
Christ in France in 2004.
■ In 1995, Ben Ammarbecame a board membero Berlusconi’s Mediaset.
■ In 2005, Ben Ammarinvested $42.7m(€30m) in The WeinsteinCompany and joined itsboard. He acquired Italy’sEagle Pictures in 2007.
■ In 2007, he openedLTC-Gammarth labsand post-productionin Tunisia. Two yearslater, he launched NorthArican satellite networkNessma TV with Mediasetand the Karoui Group.
■ Ben Ammar’s digitalpost-production acilitiesempire in Franceincludes Duran Duboi,Les Audis de Joinvilleand a 43% stake in thevenerable Eclair Group.
FFl
Brking nwFo the latest flm busesses see ceeDaly.com
In February Quinta, Communications’CEO Tarak Ben Ammar was in hisnative Tunisia, overseeing production
on Jean-Jacques Annaud’s $55m Arabianoil epic Black Gold , when the nation roseup in revolt. Just 23 days later PresidentBen Ali was ousted, ending 23 years of autocratic rule and sparking the JasmineRevolution that is reverberating acrossthe Arabic-speaking world.
Helping to give voice to that popularuprising was Nessma TV, the satellitebroadcast network Ben Ammar co-founded in 2008 with Silvio Berlusconi’sMediaset and the Karoui brothers’advertising agency.
Nessma means “gentle breeze” inArabic, a name that reects one of the network’s underlying missions: touse the gentle power of entertainmentto help moderate and modernise thehearts and minds of an Arab populationthat might otherwise gravitate towardsclosed-minded radicalism. Two thirdsof the 90 million people living in theMaghreb – the North African land masswest of Egypt – are aged 25 or younger,an impressionable demographic whosecultural horizons are largely dened bywhat they see on the small screen.
Ben Ammar, whose uncle, HabibBourguiba, was the architect of Tunisia’sindependence and the country’s rstpresident, is now developing a featureabout Mohamed Bouazizi, the streetvendor whose self-immolation ignited theinitial protests.
Your Nessma network deed the
Tunisian regime by broadcasting
protest reports. What role did Nessma
play, both on air and online, in
facilitating the uprising?
Tarak Ben Ammar Nessma was the onlymedia outlet that was allowed to goto [the town of] Sidi Bouzid, whereMohamed Bouazizi was from and had setre to himself, and interview his familyand the inhabitants of the town. SidiBouzid was where the revolution started.When we aired the programme onDecember 30, we did so without showing
■18 Screen International April 2011
en mmar: “We need to create a much more robust domestic market for rab ms.”
‘It has becomehip now to beArab, which,let’s be honest,it hasn’t beenfor some time’Taa Be mma, QutaCommucatos
‘The percepTion of TV as a fallback for acTors looking To end
Their careers wiTh a sTeady paycheck has changed’ tv drama, p23 »
April 2011 Screen International19
it to the government or the ministry of information, despite their request. Thenwe put in on Facebook, so that peoplewho had missed it the rst time wouldstill be able to see it online.
We were threatened by thegovernment, but by then it was too late.Nessma helped open the door and withintwo weeks the revolution had spreadacross the whole country and [then-president Zine El Abidine] Ben Ali edon January 15. Never before in an Arabregime under dictatorship had you seena channel like Nessma air a completelyunedited and uncensored programme likewe did on December 30. Our Facebooksite has more than 200,000 friends.
Of course my partners, the Karouibrothers, and I knew we were taking arisk but we felt it was a necessary riskto take. The government threatenedto shut us down and also to send thestation’s general manager to prison, butwe persisted. The authorities ultimatelydidn’t dare to take action against usbecause they knew I had legitimacy– rstly, through my ties to foundingpresident, Habib Bourguiba, and secondly
because I had brought so much work overthe years to my country through lm andTV productions. Also because they knewthat one of my partners was Mediaset, amajor European media company.
My guess is the newly empowered
youth movements across the
Arab world will want to see their own
stories being told on the screen. Will the
independent lm-makers from the Arab
world we see at festivals now become
a force in their local entertainment
industries? And, given nanciers’
natural aversion to uncertainty, how
long will it take for capital to back a new
entertainment infrastructure?
TBA It reminds me of the time I was astudent in the US during the late 1960s.It was the time of “I’m Black and I’mproud”. I think that’s relevant to Tunisiaand Egypt. We’re seeing the youth theresaying: “I’m Arab and I’m proud.” It hasbecome hip now to be Arab, which, let’sbe honest, it hasn’t been for some time.
The big question remains where isthe market for these emerging Arab lm-makers. We need to create a much more
the youth of Tunisia they had to work haand earn their place. That was a lesson learned myself as I was seeking to forgeahead with my career as a lm producer
Bourguiba placed an emphasis ongiving women complete, constitutionallyenshrined equality as well as ensuringthe Tunisian youth had [access to] goodeducation. Those are the foundations ofmodern Tunisia today and why I am sohopeful about Tunisia’s future as it makthe transition to democracy.
I don’t think it is a coincidence thatboth Tunisia and Egypt, the two countriewhere we have seen revolutions thisyear, do not have oil. The real wealth inthose countries is not in their soil but inthe young people who walk on its land.They are the ones who will build theircountries. That is exactly the question wask in Black Gold and why the events of this year in the Arab world have made thlm so timely – the lm asks the questiwhether oil is a blessing or a curse.
I still don’t think we have a denitiveanswer to that question, more than 70years after we rst discovered oil in theArab world.ns
robust domestic market for Arab lms,which certainly already exists for Egyptianlm-makers but far less so for lm-makers from other parts of the region, aswell as ensure the quality and vision of these lms is good enough to translateand export internationally.
Obviously Quinta is investing in Arablms, as this is important for us. You alsohave nanciers in the region, such as theDoha Film Institute [in Qatar], who aremaking positive contributions as well.
When I rst wanted to make Black Gold
30 years ago I had interest from one of the major American studios, Paramount.One of the questions they asked me thenwas: why didn’t I have any Arab moneyon board? At that time, in the late 1970s,we had seen the rst big boom in Gulf petro-dollars, so it seemed this would bea region rife with potential investors.
Though I was still a young man withouta big reputation in the lm business, Ihad access, thanks to my family, to someof the most important people in thisregion. I met with a number of importantpeople. I kept getting the same quizzicallook and the response: “You cannot be
serious.” The name of the game backthen was banking, real estate, oil, gasand defence. More than 30 years later, Iasked myself, have things changed? Arethey still only interested in oil and gas,real estate and armaments? Or have theybegun to see the value and importance of culture and the media?
The fact that the Doha Film Institute ispartner and co-producer on Black Gold , alm lled with Arab heroes and historieson an international scale, is a measureof how things are changing and willcontinue to change for the better in theweeks, months and years ahead.
From what I have read, if the Arab
world had had more presidents
like your uncle, Habib Bourguiba, we
might have seen far more gradual
transitions and far less of the popular
anger, even allowing for the very
different times we now live in. What are
your personal memories of him?
TBA I will never forget how my unclewould tell me in private how happy hewas Tunisia didn’t have any oil or gas. Hewould tell me it allowed him to convince
en mmar was on the unisian set of Quinta’s $55m ack God when the popuar uprising began
q
q
q
