Netflix Supports Grant for Arab Female Filmmakers

Netflix has partnered with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, which will provide a one-time grant of $250,000 to be distributed by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity, in order to promote telling stories about and by women in the Arab world.

The grant will go to women producers and directors throughout the region. Five women from Tunisia, Lebanon and Morocco and their projects have already been shortlisted.

From Morocco, director and producer Asmae El Moudir has been shortlisted for the nonfiction category for her film The Mother of All Lies. Lebanon’s Diala Kachmar (From the Other Shore), Jana Wehbe (The Day Vladimir Died) and Tania Khoury (Manity), who are all spearheading fiction projects, have been shortlisted, as has Sarra Abidi from Tunisia (My Name is Clara).

The Netflix Fund for Creative Equity aims to help create new opportunities for underrepresented communities within the entertainment industry. The partnership with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture continues Netflix’s commitment to amplifying women’s voices.

“More and more Arab women filmmakers are creating moving images that have the power to shed light on the realities of the region,” said Rima Mismar, executive director of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture. “This second collaboration with Neftlix, this time to support women in the field of cinema, complements perfectly AFAC’s mission to promote diversity of voices and narratives.”

JoAnn Kharma, communications manager for the Middle East and North Africa at Netflix, added, “We strive to be a meaningful part of the Arab world’s creative industries—building the right opportunities, amplifying underrepresented voices and ultimately bringing fresh and authentic Arab content to our members around the globe.”