Access to cultural an artistic expression as a human right, has also been at the core of the mission of MIMETA’s long term partner, Action for Hope (AfH). Founded in 2015 to the backdrop of the crack down on the Arab Spring in the MENA region, AfH had a vision of a just and tolerant world, where communities risking social fragmentation because of war, displacement, and extreme poverty are empowered to claim their right to artistic expression and access to culture.
Their Fa’el program (Meaning: one who takes the initiative) provides cultural management training to aspiring leaders from across the Arab region. They are sharing the knowledge and experience AfH has gained in providing cultural relief to distressed communities. The goal of this program is for vulnerable and marginalized communities in the Arab region to have access to high-quality cultural services designed and managed by local cultural leaders. In 2022, this program focussed on training cultural leaders in Iraq and Sudan, where the needs for building capacity to enhance freedom of expression are huge. The training provides participants with project design and planning tools that would enable them later to implement impactful artistic projects and programs that meet the needs of their communities. The workshop resonated widely in Sudan afterwards. Three more Sudanese trainees received project support grants to implement their cultural projects in Sudan, two of them were implemented in 2022, and the third one will be finalized in February 2023.
In Iraq in 2022, AfH continued working on the legal registration of 6 cultural groups in Iraq. As a direct result of the Fa’ael Iraq program, and the other projects AFH did in Iraq, major organizations such as UNESCO, the British Council, and USAID, have increased their funding for cultural projects in Iraq. More local organizations, especially in Mosul, are now organizing cultural activities. In addition, 13 other projects that received support in late 2021 were implemented in 2022. The projects were from Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Syria and Iraq and provided diverse cultural services to an estimated number of over 5,000 people in these countries. Also, the content of the Fa’ael Guide and Curriculum was finalized and published online on the AfH website, now Arab cultural management trainers can use it for their training workshops in the region.
The AfH film school was established in 2017 in the heart of a refugee camp in the Lebanese Beqaa, on the Western boarders of Syria. It has developed the film making skills of over 70 graduates, six of whom have received scholarships to pursue higher education in film, while 50 have entered the professional film sector. The below story of one of the school graduates, Safah Makdah, summarizes the journey the students take from no access to tools for self-expression or access to cultural life, to their films engaging with audiences in Beirut, one of the cultural hubs of the Arab region.
Safa Makdah had to leave her city Damascus and drop her school when she was in her sixth grade, so she came to Lebanon in 2014 and continued her education. Safa enrolled in the Action for Hope Film School in 2017 and learned the different cinematic specializations. Safa says:
"We studied camera parts, how to use it, how to make it, how to take pictures, the different frames, the different angles, the movement of the camera, the role of the director, different movie genres, in addition to how to come up with a movie idea, develop it, narrate it, and finally, edit it”.
After obtaining her high school certificate in 2021, Safa decided to continue her filmmaking study and she was accepted at the Audio-Visual institute in the Lebanese University. In 2022, her film “Our Room”, supported by Action for Hope, was screened in Ayam Beirut Al Cinema'iya Festival and won the festival’s only award: the “Audience Award”, and it was also streamed on Aflamuna platform of Beirut DC as part of Reef Festival for 10 days in June 2022, and won the special jury award. These awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of Safa, as well as the quality of education and training provided by AFH. This recognition will undoubtedly boost the morale and confidence of the graduates and inspire them to continue pursuing their passion for filmmaking.
