Culture Resource is pleased to announce the grantees of the second round of Wijhat 2024, a program that supports artists and cultural actors through travel grants that enable them to participate in artistic and cultural activities in the Arab region and abroad.
The Wijhat team received 70 applications for this round. Of these, 63 were for international travel and 7 for regional travel. The jury selected 9 projects based on the program’s evaluation criteria, taking into consideration geographical diversity and diversity in travel destinations.
Grantees
The crew of the film “The Camera Never Cries”, represented by Alyaa Musa, Sudan / Filmmaker
Destination: Sudan → Rwanda
Itinerary: The crew members of the film “The Camera Never Cries” will attend a workshop organized by the Rwanda Media Project. The workshop is part of the Project’s specialized filmmaking workshops, targeting young filmmakers from Rwanda and East Africa; it aims to help them develop their skills and address their needs during the production phase, ensuring they complete the project professionally.
Almonther Aldamani, Syria / Dramaturge, writer, and theater director
Destination: Lebanon → Jordan
Itinerary: Almonther is set to participate in the Mohammad and Mahera Abu Ghazaleh Foundation’s Artist in Residence program 2024, which will provide him with a space to write and attend collaborative workshops, both as a participant and a trainer. During the residency, Almonther will write three short stories titled “Death and the Sun”, which explore themes of death and freedom. The stories blend storytelling and theatricality, with the aim of creating a literary work adaptable for both cinema and theater. At the end of the artistic residency, Almonther will present these stories in a reading, after which they will be ready for publication.
Basma Nagy, Egypt / Writer, translator, and independent cultural coordinator
Destination: Egypt → USA
Itinerary: Basma will travel to New York to attend a one-month writers’ residency to complete her novel sequence “Before the Sea Strikes Us”, after receiving a grant from Art Omi in New York and Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. During the residency, Basma will participate in workshops and discussions with writers from different nationalities to exchange ideas and expertise about the art of storytelling, the lives of writers, and their interactions with local communities. The residency program also offers opportunities to connect with American publishers and literary agents, alongside attending cultural events and intensive creative writing sessions.
The crew of the “Dressing Room” performance, represented by Bissane Al Charif, Syria / Theater Director
Destination: France → Egypt
Itinerary: The crew members of the “Dressing Room” performance will participate in the “Theater is a Must” festival in Alexandria, Egypt. The performance delves into the experiences of living and traversing the Mediterranean, highlighting the necessity of adapting to diverse languages and cultures. As such, presenting the performance to an Arab audience in Egypt is considered a significant step. The participation also includes conducting a five-day workshop with a group of women and presenting a special festival-adapted version of “Dressing Room” based on the workshop’s outcomes.
Carine Doumit, Lebanon / Writer and film director
Destination: Lebanon → Belgium, France
Itinerary: Carine has been invited to participate in The Social Life of Film conference in Belgium as part of the Camelia Committee, which also includes Nour Ouayda and Mira Adoumier. The committee works in the field of cinema and is interested, among other topics, in film programming. Carine will also participate in an artistic residency organized by PROVIDENZA in Corsica, France, where she will assist in writing the film “Night is Coming” by French-Lebanese filmmaker Mira Adoumier. The film received the artistic residency award during the 14th edition of FIDLab, in partnership with PROVIDENZA.
Esraa Elfeky, Egypt / Multimedia artist
Destination: Egypt → Mauritania
Itinerary: Esraa is set to participate in the 4th edition of Caravane Ouadane, where she’ll be representing the South Ajdabiya Collective. The latter was founded in partnership with the Tunisian visual artist and filmmaker, Saif Fradj, and comprises filmmakers interested in the North African Desert. During her stay, Esraa will film her upcoming project titled “The Seven Lands” in the Mauritanian Desert and conduct artistic research on the country’s history and heritage; a step that will be instrumental in finalizing the film’s script. Additionally, she will conduct a workshop focused on image and identity with the locals.
Nicolas Fattouh, Lebanon / Visual artist and animation film director
Destination: Canada → Lebanon
Itinerary: Nicolas, the director of “Beirut Animation Nights” festival, will travel from Montreal to Beirut to organize, develop, and promote the festival. This newly established initiative is dedicated to showcasing animated films, with a special emphasis on emerging artists. The festival aspires to become a hub where filmmakers from Lebanon and the world can come together, collaborate, and present their creations to a wider audience by providing a platform for exchanging ideas and expertise.
Shuruq Harb, Palestine / Interdisciplinary artist
Destination: Palestine → South Korea
Itinerary: Shuruq will participate in the Busan Biennale 2024, held in the coastal city of Busan in South Korea, after being commissioned to produce a new 15-minute film. This opportunity will allow Shuruq to showcase her work on an international platform.
Ziad Naitaddi, Morocco / Visual artist
Destination: Morocco → Portugal
Itinerary: Ziad is set to participate in an artistic residency at HANGAR – Artistic Research Center in Lisbon, Portugal, where he will be working alongside migrant communities in Porto and collaborating with relevant organizations to develop a project that interweaves photography, text, and an experimental film.
Jury
Anas Albraehe / Syria, plastic artist
Nedjma Hadj Benchelabi / Algeria, art curator
Talal Afifi / Sudan, film producer and programmer, and director of Sudan Film Factory
*The photo is from the performance “Milk” by Khashabi Theater (Palestine) at Avignon Festival in France, supported by the Wijhat program 2022.
