Students enrolled in DFI’s Mythology Lab will embark on an investigation of Arab Story-Telling traditions dating back 5000 years; charting the evolution of Mythological and Fantasy Story-telling through the ages, leading back to the present-day. Along the way, students will meet a host of fascinating mentors specializing in a variety of fascinating narrative styles and traditions. Mythology Lab will also explore the Ancient Greek narrative innovations of Aristotle, the Fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson, the post-Freudian theories of Joseph Campbell, and the magical realism of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam. These aesthetics will be married to the teaching of contemporary Filmmaking techniques, with the aim of creating a group of aspiring filmmakers here in Qatar, ready to tackle complex and innovative film projects with a mythological twist.

Through seminars, guest speakers, campfire story-telling sessions, screenings of Classic Fantasy movies, and intensive writing tutorials; students of Mythology Lab will discover the rich history of Arab Narrative. Mythology Lab will help to unearth students’ own, unique storytelling style. Each student will create a Short Film script, ranging between 1 and 10 minutes in duration. The most outstanding scripts will be chosen for production, and the entire group will participate in this filmmaking process, learning all aspects of the Production process; including Pre-production, Direction, Cinematography, Production Design; Sound Design, Special Effects and Editing. The minimal objective is to create 5 × 1-Minute Films (eligible for DTFF), and at least one longer Short Film (maximum 10 Minutes).

Following this initial series of workshops, the Mythology Team intends to produce a second series of Workshops in 2012, further exploring this rich narrative style. Ultimately we are looking to develop writers, performers and filmmakers over the long-term, with the aim of creating commercially-viable ‘Genre’-based Feature-Film projects.

Dates:
May 31st – July 13th

Hours:
6:30pm – 10pm

Language:
English / Arabic

Location:
Katara, Doha

Mentors:

Ben Robinson
Ben has been living in the film industry since he was a child. Between 2000-2009, whilst working as Camera-Director for companies including Al-Jazeera English and BBC, Ben also Co-Produced, Directed and shot a number of Award-Winning Short Films, including multi-award winning NIGHT OF THE HELL HAMSTERS (Co-Producer and Cinematographer) and HOORAY FOR HOLLOWAY! (Writer-Director, winner of BBC FUNNY HUNT Award 2006). His Horror Shorts SLASH HIVE and NEON KILLER played at Film Festivals around the world (including London Frightfest, Phoenix Fear Festival, Glasgow Film Festival and San Sebastien) to great audience acclaim. Since 2009, Ben has worked as a mentor for DTFF and Doha Film Institute, where he is teaching filmmaking.

For more information on Ben Robinson, click here.

Mohammed Al-Ibrahim
Mohammed has been passionate about film since the age of 17. I am currently an associate producer with the Education department at DFI, as well as a filmmaker. I have written and directed two short films; a one minute film (Where’s Cupid?) and a ten minute film (Land of Pearls). Land of pearls was recently in the “student short films” competition at the 4th Gulf Film Festival in Dubai, and will be showcased at the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival in May, 2011. I have also been a runner, and a 3rd A.D. on the Tunisian crew for the film “Black Gold” shot in Tunisia and in Qatar. As well as a crew member, I also had a small acting role in the film.

Hamida Al-Kuwari
Hamida recently graduated from University College London (UCL) with a BA (Honours) in Politics and East European Studies. Currently, she is part of the Education team at Doha Film Institute, a cultural organization dedicated to film appreciation, education and building a sustainable film industry.

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