Master Class was set up with French film programmer Solong Polet in cooperation with the French Embassy
Ghada Adel
Master Class was set up with French film programmer Solong Polet in cooperation with the French Embassy and Institut française, as part of the Medvest-Egypt event at the American University. Attended by a number of filmmakers and heads of local and international festivals, she discussed the role of festivals in promoting intercultural communication and building an interactive fanbase, and how art can be a bridge between cultures and societies.
Boulet expressed great pleasure in sharing her experience with institutions interested in cinema, noting that her relationship with Arab cinema began in the 1980s when she lived between Egypt and Syria. She emphasized that this period was full of creativity, where she learned about Egyptian cinema through recording films, and was close to a privileged generation of directors such as Dawood Abdel Sayed and Khairy Beshara, who left the studio atmosphere and took to the streets to portray people's lives and stories.
Boulet added that it founded "Movies" in 2000 in Marseille to promote knowledge of Arab cultures through cinema. She also explained that she is a member of the annual Film Festival Selection Committee and runs the annual Film Workshop since 2016 to write screenplays. She described Marseille as a privileged city with many Arab immigrants, making the festival a way to create the language of dialogue between filmmakers and the city.
Boulet noted that Arab cinema, with its various stories, deserves to be told, and that the beginnings of learning about Arab cinema in France date back to the 1950s through Egyptian films such as Joseph Shaheen's Bab al-Hadid and Salah Abu Saif. In the 1970s, a new generation of filmmakers emerged, adding their touch to Arab cinema.
Boulet explained that the festival "Space for Encounter", which she founded in Marseille, is not competitive and aims to give Arab filmmakers the opportunity to communicate with audiences and critics from all over the world.
