The masterclasses will be screened via live videos through the festival's official Instagram page.
Revart Film Festival has announced that its first edition, which will run from May 4 to 6, will include three masterclasses with renowned Arab directors: Egyptian director Sherif El Bendary, Iraqi director Mohanad Hayal and Sudanese director Amjad Abu Alala.
Marking Egypt’s first online vertical film festival, RFF-Revart Film Festival aims to promote creativity in filmmaking at the times of self-quarantine. The films selected will be accessible to everyone online. The festival was scheduled to launch earlier this year in a public ceremony with the presence of the festival jury, however, it was postponed in the light of the protective measures against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
The Festival’s Judging Panel includes; DOP and director Ahmad AlMorsy, scriptwriter Tamer Habib, and the director and actor Ahmad Magdy.
On May 1, Sherif El Bendary’s masterclass ” Short films: From the Idea to Screenwriting” will take place at 10:00 pm on the festival’s official Instagram page; Mohanad Hayal’s masterclass, “Directing First-time Actors”, is slated to take place on May 2 at 10:00 pm; and Amjad Abu Alala’s masterclass, “From a Short Film to a Feature-length Film” is slated to be held on May 3 at 10:00 pm.
RFF-Revart Film Festival has also partnered with MAD Solutions under which the distributor will be responsible for the festival’s marketing and distribution. The submission deadline was April 30 and the winners will be revealed on May 7.
Films eligible for the festival should be less than three minutes in length and filmed entirely in-home. The applicants must reside in Egypt during the period of the festival and can use a smartphone camera or any type of camera for shooting. The film’s theme, genre, and the story is open and a filmmaker can submit more than one film, but only one will be selected.
Sherif El Bendary’s work includes his first short fiction, Sabah El Fol and At Day’s End (2008). Sherif’s repertoire also includes films such as the documentary Fil Tarik Le West El Balad and the short film Dry Hot Summers.
Born in Iraq, Mohanad Hayal’s short Happy Birthday was selected for the 2013 Berlin International Film Festival and received the Rising Star Award at the 2013 Rhode International Film Festival. His latest feature film Haifa Street is his feature debut and was selected as one of the most important African, Middle Eastern and Arab projects at the Venice International Film Festival (Final Cut).
Amjad Abu Alala’s debut feature-length film You Will Die At Twenty was selected in several film festivals. The film screened at Venice Film Festival, where it won Lion of the Future – “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film, the Toronto International Film Festival and El Gouna Film Festival.
