In 2021, Netflix set up its Fund for Creative Equity to create more opportunities for people from underrepresented communities. Now, the subscription streaming service and production company is partnering with the Lebanon-based Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) to offer a $250,000 grant to 5 Arab female filmmakers.

“The Fund for Creative Equity helps the industry as a whole to have a much more dynamic, interesting, multidimensional representation of women, and this is one step in the journey to enabling more women to tell their stories and have new audiences discover their work”, said Nuha El Tayeb, Director Content Acquisitions, Middle East, and Turkey at Netflix.

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The one-off grant will go to five projects across the MENA region:

• The Mother Of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir (Morocco): A documentary focusing on the 1981 Bread Riots in Morocco and its impact on the director’s family and contemporary society.
• My Name Is Clara by Sarra Abidi (Tunisia): A story of a call center operator named Ayda, who is living an ordinary and repetitive life.
• Manity by Tania El Khoury (Lebanon): An examination of the relationship between an 11-year-old son and his father as they go bird hunting.
• The Day Vladimir Died by Jana Wehbe (Lebanon): A story of an old man who spends his time checking the obituaries page and attending funerals.
• From The Other Shore by Diala Kachmar (Lebanon): A movie about two handicapped friends who navigate life together.

This is AFAC’s second collaboration with Netflix, and it aligns perfectly with its mission to promote diversity of voices and narratives. “More and more Arab female filmmakers are creating moving images that have the power to shed light on the realities of the region,” said Rima Mismar, AFAC’s current Executive Director.