Tripoli Film Festival 2018

Tripoli, now sadly known as the Mediterranean’s poorest city, was once an open and flourishing center, a hub for the arts and a model of cultural and religious tolerance. We believe in its potential and we want you to be part of its repositioning on the cultural map of Lebanon.

The Festival’s adventure started in 2014, despite the clashes and political unrest in Tripoli, or rather in spite of the situation. Our aim was always to stand for tolerance, openness and cultural diversity; to open windows to the worlds through the movies selected and to bring the world to Tripoli, changing the image of the city through art. We slowly grew our ambitions and expanded the scope of the Festival, inviting international guests and aiming for international professional standards and are now well positioned on the Arab Festival scene. This would have not been possible without the generous donators and volunteers who continue to make it happen and without you who support the Festival with your presence and encouragements.

This year, we would like to continue the activities started in the previous editions and maintain our standards, despite our shrinking budget: this is why your help is more than ever necessary and every contribution matters. The Festival is a nonprofit initiative that relies on a strong network of volunteers to make it happen. All our events are free and open to all.

Your participation will help us to achieve these goals:

• We will be inviting directors and producers to the Festival: This includes their accommodation and meals, as well as airline tickets for the jury members. This international representation is the heart of our initiative as it allows for cultural exchanges and positions us on a truly international level. We hope to grow enough to become a true production platform and give Lebanese talents the opportunity to meet every year directors and producers without having to go abroad.
• We will continue and expand the Audiovisual Forum: The Forum is a learning platform for Tripoli’s youth, allowing them to be in touch with Lebanese and International professionals that will share their experiences with them. It is an exchange hub that has led to multiple collaborations in the last two years, bringing people together and helping movies to be made through the post-production fund. We are teaming with Fondation Liban Cinéma and post-production companies to give better chances to our talents. Grants will be awarded to selected projects in production and post-production phase and one project in the development phase will be awarded full support, from content development to production.
• We will continue the outreach side activities:
  Cinema 3al Daraj brings movies to the people: we hold open air screenings of selected movies in neighborhoods such as Bab El Tebbeneh and Jabal Mohsen during the Festival, and expand our reach outside of Tripoli during the year.
  Tripoli DocuDays is an out of competition side event, held in October, that screens selected documentaries that bring light on social, cultural and environmental issues. We started this initiative last year, after having received many documentaries that we felt we should share with Lebanon but that couldn’t fit into our regular programming. This event, dedicated to all cultures of the world, is very dear to us and we would like to continue it and make it grow.
• We will be able to print all needed brochures and promotional material.
• And, last but not least, you will be helping the Festival cover its fees, from technical needs to crew and production needs and you will help us to take care of, dress and feed our 30+ volunteers that dedicate their time to the Festival, they are at the core of our initiative and we could not make it without them!

Tripoli Film Festival is here to stay and grow, with your help.

Thank you