2016 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

An ode to Lebanon’s youth. The manifesto script is inspired by both the frustration and the hope of Lebanese 18 to 24 year olds. Being the 90’s post-war generation, these young people are the fruit of many years of obedience, to parent and society rules and expectations, uneasy to follow given Lebanon’s corrupt situation. The film begins by showing the childhood journey of the Lebanese youth, the things they had to go through, leading up to them revealing the change they want to create, by simply being given the freedom to create who they are. While they cite “History doesn’t have to repeat itself”, a group of young people stands on Lebanon’s most toxic sight, the trash mountain, the result of the old generation’s incompetence and corruption, which happens to be the only sight of Beirut’s full skyline.

Creative Execution

While shooting, youth-led manifestations erupted against the garbage crisis. One of the film’s pillar scenes was of Beirut’s full skyline, ironically visible solely from the “trash mountain” the youth was protesting against. Securing authorizations to shoot on the “trash mountain” proved difficult, since officials doubted our purpose. Losing this scene was not an option, however, because it was one of our contributions to the country’s revolution, an opportunity to create an iconic moment. Relentless, we got the authorization. The “trash mountain” is obviously not equipped for vehicles or even humans, so setting up was quite challenging. But at twilight we shot, for the first time in Lebanon’s history, the final scene of “The Makers”, Beirut’s full skyline from the top of a location that ignited the youth’s protests. Additionally, the film was allocated a 2-day budget while it needed more shooting days, because the outdoor scenes were to be shot only during magic hours. So we stretched the budget to a 5-day period, managing almost 100 casts and far-apart locations, without compromising the film’s quality.