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Netflix and the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (AFAC) have announced a new hardship emergency relief fund that aims to support those operating in the region’s film and TV community, most impacted by the pandemic. The Fund’s call for applications opened on June 9, and runs until July 8, 2021.
The Fund, valued at $500,000, will provide financial support in the form of individual grants ($2000 per grant) to below-the-line crew, craftspeople and freelancers who are active in the television and/or film industry in the Arab region, and who are facing economic hardship resulting from the disruption of normal life, halts in productions, and reduced opportunities due to the pandemic.
An evaluation committee composed of five independent members from the industry will evaluate the submissions and determine the Fund’s recipients.
This partnership is the second following a first collaboration between AFAC and Netflix on a hardship fund dedicated to Lebanese and Lebanon-based workers in the wake of the multiple crises that hit the country.
A Netflix spokesman has been quoted as saying:” We have expanded the emergency fund to support more people from the Arab creative community. Forging the right partnerships allows us to create jobs, build talent pipelines and support the industry. We are so grateful to be working with the Arab Fund for Arts & Culture and hope this fund supports the creative community during this difficult period,”
Rima Mismar, AFAC’s executive director, is quoted as saying:” This partnership with Netflix has allowed us to be swifter in our emergency response and to reach out to individuals who are not normally a part of our direct grants’ recipients. We hope this fund will contribute to alleviating some of the pressures suffered by the film and TV workers across the region who form the backbone of the industry.”
In December 2020, AFAC and Netflix announced that 246 grants had been awarded to Lebanon’s film and TV community. The relief is part of Netflix’s $150 million hardship fund to support creative communities across the world who have been impacted by the pandemic.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be below-the-line crew, craftspeople and freelancers working in the film and/or TV industry in the Arab region (with the exception of Lebanese and Lebanon-based workers, who are excluded from this call).
- Film and TV workers in senior positions (directors, producers, directors of photography, sound engineers, art directors) are not eligible to apply.
- Applicants must be of Arab nationalities working in the Arab region (Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen).
- Lebanese and Arab film and TV workers who are based in Lebanon are not eligible to benefit from the fund. Lebanese workers operating outside Lebanon yet in the Arab region, are eligible to apply.
- Applicants can be assistants, coordinators, technicians, and operators from the different departments (production, camera, sound, art direction, make-up, costume, props, post-production, locations and transportation, among others). Priority will be given to below-the-line workers.
- Applicants must have worked on at least 5 projects.
- Applicants must be active in the film and/or TV industries for at least the past three years.
For all info and to apply, check out the AFAC website.
Top image, a still from A Son ('Un fils") by Mehdi Barsaoui.
