The imbalance of political power and the economic gap between Europe and the Arab World as well as the striking disequilibrium regarding the possession of and access to technological means of production directly affect the making of films. Thus how do the images we see from the Near East and North Africa come into being? Who produces them and to which interest?

In workshops I approach these questions from different angles. The starting point of a seminar can be the reception of films about or from Arab countries in Germany, the conditions of production of a state in the region, the mutual film history between Germany and an Arab country or another subject which is urgent to your institution.

Most of the workshops address a public in Germany, hence the examples on the German site are more comprehensive. My tutorials in Arab countries or for Arab directors and producers mainly deal with questions of funding and production as well as film sales and distribution.

In addition to the public events I also teach in training and formation programs such as the Film Prize of the Robert Bosch Stiftung for international cooperation between young filmmakers from Germany and the Arab World, Docmed, DOX:LAB or Documentary Campus MENA Region. The subjects are similar to the examples in the documentation below, yet the in-house curricula are not public.

Cinema as a crime? - Co-production in crisis and war
Seminar at the Filmuniversity Potsdam / Germany 2019
Regions of crisis or war offer a wealth of material for filmmakers. Especially when wars emerge from revolutions, as is currently the case in Syria, international co-productions increase. The films always take side, the directors are either rather openly part of one of the warring parties or they are embedded. This form of international cooperation - be it out of solidarity, a thirst for adventure or an interest in political education on the part of the partners in the safe countries - has existed since the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. The filmmakers from the war zones are usually dependent on funding and post-production support from abroad. What do both sides know about each other? What are the foreign teams stepping into? What influence do the co-productions have in the war country and among its refugees? On the country’s politics? Who takes which ethical and legal responsibility?
These questions will be dealt with using the example of two Arab films. The aim of the seminar is to get a better idea about what it means to work in unknown contexts and to become more aware of one's own position / role in co-productions with colleagues from regions of crisis and war.

War and Media: Images of Syria
state-recognized further training for teachers, Nuremberg International Human Rights Film Festival / Germany 2016 and Inhouse Formation Motivés e.V. Gießen / Germany 2019
Till 2011 Syria was a relatively closed country. Not many images have reached us, be it in the media, in the field of art or in cinema. Since the beginning of the political uprisings and the subsequent civil war five years ago, images of Syria are suddenly very present in the media on a daily basis. Thus how can we understand them? On the basis of short TV-reports from Arab and German broadcasters as well as internet videos the most common image- and language strategies of the war parties are illuminated and analyzed in the context of theoretical concepts of war in the media. Continue für Nuenrberg in German

Film Funding and Distribution
At the Arte Film Week, French-German Cultural Center Ramallah / Palestine 2012
program leaflet (PDF)

Images for a conflict with no end
At the Arsenal Summer School: Cut! Interventions of the Documentary, Arsenal Berlin / Germany 2011
The third Arsenal Summer School will be taking place from August 25-27 entitled "Cut! Documentary Interventions". A series of eight events, including discussions, Q&As and film screenings, and a range of different speakers from practical and theoretical backgrounds will explore the relationship between both the documentary and the political and form and content and examine the conditions for documentary production. Contributors: Karin Jurschick, Brigitta Kuster, Claus Löser, Avi Mograbi, Irit Neidhardt, Philip Scheffner, Stefan Stefanescu, Florian Wüst. Chaired by: Milena Gregor, Birgit Kohler, Stefanie Schulte Strathaus. Continue