As global attention turns towards the cinema of the Middle East, MOJEH speaks to the change-makers.

Director Salma Azzam, 22, is following in Nadine’s footsteps, soaking up the current wave of positivity surrounding Middle Eastern cinema and preparing for her fourth stint at Cannes this month. “Attending the festival in 2016 was a turning point,” she recounts. “For an 18-year-old Syrian, it was life changing. I applied for my first film there in a heartbeat, after my mentor told me to not only give myself a chance but also give my art a voice.” Salma’s short thesis film, Life’s Notes, was written, directed and edited by her, and details the dilemma of Adam, a street musician who struggles to take care of his sick, blind wife, while paying the bills.

The film earned her a place in the Short Film Corner at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in 2016. “My first involvement with the festival created a new beginning for me as a filmmaker, and with it came a feeling of immense responsibility.” A few years ago, society may not have deemed ‘director’ or ‘screenwriter’ a suitable career choice for an 18-year-old Syrian female, but groundbreakers like Nayla and Nadine have succeeded in presenting alternative pathways. “Growing up, my parents were my biggest supporters,” says Salma. “They really pushed me to refine my artistic talents.” As well as changes in social attitudes, which make cinema an appealing career choice for a new generation of females, other shifts including new technology, globalisation and mass migration create unprecedented and compelling subject matter and renegotiate the way we consume media itself. Instagram, for example, is an instantaneous and far-reaching way that female filmmakers in the MENA region can spread their news globally.