SYRIA: Syrian director Razam Hijazi produces an award-winning animated film for Syrian and Arab children

Record ID: 279611

  • Title: SYRIA: Syrian director Razam Hijazi produces an award-winning animated film for Syrian and Arab children
  • Date: 12th September 2007
  • Summary: RAZAM HIJAZI SITTING AT COMPUTER IN OFFICE
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2007 13:00
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  • Reuters ID: LVALPYHGYUJAOQWXF1FLYD3BDGL
  • Story Text: "The Thread of Life," a new award-winning animated film for children from Syrian Director Razam Hijazi, tells the story of Alaa, a young boy who finds a magic thread which when pulled, catapults him into the future.
    When conceiving the concept of the film, Hijazi says she wanted to create an animation with international appeal which was firmly rooted in Middle Eastern and Arabic culture.
    "We created an environment within the film in which every Syrian or Arab would be able to feel as though this was their own village, that this souk was in their city such as al-Hamidieh or other old souks in any Arab country such as Khan al-Khalili in Egypt or the old souk in Tunis," she says.
    "When the child sees this, they feel that the hero looks like other children they know and the places are similar to places they have seen, so they better understand the film," she adds.
    Almost one-hundred Syrian animators were involved in the production of "The Thread of Life" which won a number of prizes at international film festivals and continues to be screened around the world.
    "The film took part in the Cairo International Film Festival for Children where it won the golden prize. It also received a prize from the international panel of judges for children and it took part in a festival in Miami in America. I won a directing prize for the film and it will soon take part in a festival at the BFI [British Film Institute] in England," says Hijazi.
    "The Thread of Life" was produced by Tiger Production, which is a privately owned production company headed by Razam Hijazi's brother, Mannaa. The film was also produced in association with The Syrian General Film Establishment which enabled the film makers to take advantage of public subsidies which reduced the production costs significantly.
    "Thanks to this cooperation, the cost of the production was lower than it would have been if the film was produced outside Syria. If we produced this film outside Syria it would have cost almost twice as much," says Mannaa Hijazi, who is the CEO of Tiger Production.
    Razam and Mannaa Hijazi hope their successful collaboration between their Tiger Production company and the Syrian General Film Establishment will inspire other Syrian film makers to take advantage of the available resources and in the process, boost Syria's film industry.
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