Lebanese female filmmaker helps boys delight in film production at Sharjah Book Fair

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

As a group of schoolboys clap their hands excitedly on the conclusion of the ‘Movie Poster Star’ workshop, held as part of the vibrant agenda of activities of the 40th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair at Expo Centre Sharjah, the creative workshop facilitator, Sara Mezher, an award-winning filmmaker and actress, said the boys — who had expressed no interest in films — had not been as excited when they first walked in.

Quickly however, the mood changed, as the boys became engrossed in the process of choosing a movie character to impersonate. What made the exercise more exciting was that it involved choosing props and costumes from the wide range of items Mezher had prepared for the activity.

“Everything you find here is something they can easily find at home,” said the Lebanese filmmaker whose award-winning short film, Falling Light, was screened at many international festivals.

Sara Mezher with the young participants in the workshop at Sharjah Expo.

After a lively discussion on deciding the type of character to impersonate, the boys chose boxing gloves and a boxing punching bag, as they desired to create an action movie poster featuring a boxing star. Acting like a real film crew, the team picked a name for the movie – “Hero Box” – and worked with the array of objects to shoot the poster. One boy held the yellow background, another held the little green boxing bag, while the chosen “actor” posed as “Hero Box” with the boxing gloves. Other boys directed the process together.

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“In this workshop, I encourage kids to collaborate like a team and use their creative imagination to come up with interesting choices of a movie character for the poster,” says Mezher. “The activity also enhances skills in storytelling, and children learn a few technical elements that go into the making of movies.”

The young participants were also excited to add their names to the film credits as Mezher created the poster image on a computer software programme.

Sara Mezher will be holding more workshops at SIBF including the Art of Planting, Leaf Painting and Art Science.