DUBAI: The inaugural film industry training program launched by Netflix for young Arab women has garnered praise from its participants, but organizers said gender parity remains a major challenge.
In collaboration with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the “Women in Film: Introduction to the Creative Process” initiative concluded with a visit earlier this month to Netflix’s production hub in Tres Cantos, Madrid, following a series of workshops across the Middle East.
“I never thought I would ever be able to see something like this or stand in the same place as some of my most favorite TV shows on Netflix,” said Lama Al-Sharhan, a participant from Saudi Arabia, who was among 37 women who participated.
“It was surreal, and the structure was carefully planned to the smallest detail to make it easy to produce multiple shows as efficiently as possible,” she told Arab News.
While filmmakers from around the world share the same passion for the industry, Arab filmmakers “lack knowledge on how to produce and create series that capture worldwide audiences’ attention” the way Netflix does, she added.
“We require these small tips and tricks that we might not be aware of since this is still a growing industry in the Arab world while in Europe, it’s more established,” said Al-Sharhan.
Rima Mismar, AFAC’s executive director, spoke to Arab News about the challenges facing female filmmakers and crew in the Arab world.
She said there was a scarcity of funding for arts and culture in general across the Arab region, in addition to the lack of proper infrastructure for production, distribution, and dissemination of film works. This was “a challenge that women filmmakers face even more than their male counterparts.”
Moreover, there are “inequities in terms of salaries, exposure, and capacity-building opportunities” for women, she added.
Although the last decade saw the emergence of more women directors and producers in the Arab world as well as female-centric efforts by global platforms, Mismar warned: “One should not confuse progress and improvement with equity and justice.”
“The path is still very long and women across the Arab region still face social and familial pressures regarding their choices of artistic careers,” she added.
Mismar highlighted that women-centric initiatives should “not be solely based on the fact that they are women, but rather to value women filmmakers for their unique perspectives, emotional depth, worldview, and their capability to push the boundaries of our imagination through stories and experiences that are not focused only on women characters.”
She said AFAC was working toward “shifting the paradigm through equally including women voices in our processes, thinking, brainstorming, and selection of film projects to receive support.
She added that the organization was “keen on intergenerational transmission of knowledge, cross-sectoral learning, and the development of more critical discourses around the dynamics of production in film and other art forms in the region.”
Mismar said the initiative with Netflix “was very much about creating a safe environment for young women filmmakers to learn, share and discuss and to be inspired by other women in the field as well as learn from other fields like feminist writings.”
The program began in November with three-day workshops held in Dubai, Jeddah and Cairo, offering participants mentorship from established female directors in various aspects of filmmaking, including scriptwriting.
“As we place representation and diversity at the heart of what we do, partnering with like-minded organizations like AFAC strengthens our shared aim to amplify the voices of Arab creators,” said Netflix’s content director for Turkiye, the Middle East and Africa, Nuha El-Tayeb.
“We want to serve as a meaningful part of the creative communities in the Arab world, and partnerships, like the one with AFAC, help provide creators with the tools they need to tell the best version of their stories,” she told Arab News.
Participants visited Netflix’s content hub during the final leg of the trip, expanding their network through engagements with industry professionals and talks with prominent organizations and government bodies.
The participants also had the opportunity to have mentoring sessions with producer Emma Lustres (“Cell 211,” “Retribution”), and showrunner Gema R. Neira (“Nacho,” “High Seas,” “Farina”).
This is not Netflix’s first collaboration with AFAC.
In 2021, the two organizations supported 240 freelancers in the film and television sector across 12 countries in the Arab region under the AFAC-Netflix Hardship Fund.
In 2022, Netflix partnered with AFAC to provide a one-time grant of $250,000 to women producers and directors in the Arab world through the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, as part of its broader commitment to promoting gender equality in the Arab cinema industry through its Because She Created initiatives.
The Women in Film program is part of Netflix’s “ongoing effort to upskill more women behind the camera and give new voices the opportunity to break through in the industry,” said El-Tayeb.
“The goal of this program is to introduce the creative filmmaking process and the different roles women can play behind the camera to emerging women filmmakers in the region,” she added.
Netflix will continue to invest in amplifying and celebrating more women’s voices through our content, funding and upskilling initiatives as part of our work in the region, said El-Tayeb.
