Fuentes-León Seeks to Enhance Skills of Arab Independent Artists

On Tuesday, celebrated Puverian director Javier Fuentes-León held a press meeting with Egyptian journalists on the occasion of his participation in a seven-day virtual workshop at Cairo International Film Festival in order to enhance the skills of Arab independent artists in the cooperation with the US Embassy in Cairo.

He started his talk by reviewing the details of his workshop at Cairo Industry Days. He explained that the workshop is based on the participant's submissions of their projects to a jury. Some of them will be in person in Cairo and the others will stick to the virtual way.

"We are going to listen to what they are going to present and we will give them ideas about how to present it better based on our experience," he indicated.

"We are going to help them in what's called pitching in order to find partners who help them in making the films not only in Egypt but also in Europe," Fuentes-León expressed.

He elaborated that many films need some European help.

Regarding the obstacles that face independent films, he explained that it is always hard to make an independent film. The problem is not a lack of passion or lack of a good idea, but it is a financial issue.

He continued, the same case in the whole world including the US. Films are always produced that "doesn't fit what Hollywood is looking for" because "there is no cultural funding."

Then he added that independent filmmakers sometimes try to get a famous actor to attract sponsors.

After that, he reviewed the features that make a film attractive to the sponsors, "presenting project is difficult and pitching  is always hard, it is an art in itself."

He also expressed that producers are looking for passionate filmmakers who are ready to fight for their projects, in addition to a good story and a good time to tell the story.

Then, he stressed that the more the story is a local one, the more is specific so it could be more universal later.

He asserted that he still prefers direct human interaction and he thinks that the digital way can't take over real film theaters. In the same context, he expressed that digital platforms such as Netflix give the audience more persity in content. Platforms do well in the light of COVID-19 unlike the process of productions and festivals as COVID-19 affected all fields.

Finally, he talked about how participants prepare for the workshops, "the first thing we try to reduce the stress, as project presenters could afraid to be in front of a camera."

He added, "rehearse and introduce your team, make sure of who speaks first, tell what this story about, what is unique about, and what is the vision of the director. You should say everything that makes your project stands out."

He continued, "You need to be very clear in what you are looking for.  Through those 20 minutes of pitching people (jury/sponsors) evaluate a lot of things such as: Do I feel I can work with these people?, do I feel that they know what they are doing?"

He expressed that the art of pitching is based on showing the skills of being a good storyteller, the story of you as a filmmaker.

It is worthy to mention that Cairo Industry Days is an event held on the sidelines of the Cairo International Film Festival. This year's edition is taking place between 4 and 7 December.