The LIAS School of Media was very proud to have partnered with the world-renowned Tribeca Film Institute in organising a masterclass for Libyan documentary-makers held in April 2014. This programme required that the LIAS School of Media establish funding for the project; select the participants; handle the logistics of travel to New York for the attendees; and oversee the running of the programme. The programme was made possible with the support of USAID and Chemonics.
The event was a resounding success for all involved – the Tribeca Film Institute, the funding partners, the young filmmakers and for LIAS.
The event took place over a period of a week, commencing on 15th April and took place at the same time as the Tribeca Film Festival.
The workshop included sessions from leading filmmakers, some of whom had coincidentally worked in Libya. The presentations covered the process of filmmaking and asked each of the young Libyan filmmakers to talk about their projects and the creative challenges they faced. The Tribeca experts showed clips and shared some of the challenges they faced, thus providing the young Libyan filmmakers with an insight into the issues that even established filmmakers face.
There were also panel sessions provided by filmmakers who had films screening at the festival. During these sessions, the panel members discussed their process for completing their films.
At the end of the workshop, the attendees were able to watch a screening of a Tribeca Film Institute-funded documentary entitled Point and Shoot, which was of particular relevance to the filmmakers as not only had it been filmed in Libya, but several of the filmmakers knew the main character, Matthew Van Dyke. Furthermore, this film went on to win the Tribeca Film Festival audience award.