Culture

Women Cinema project, bringing women behind the cameras in Tunisia

Tunis, 7 Nov (EFE) -(Camera; Natalia Román) A project in Tunisia known as "Women Cinema" is hoping to train Tunisian women in front of the camera as well as behind it. Many of the women the project is targeting are young with few resources and no experience as part of a mission to transform the film industry, which is often accused of being secretive and elitist, as well as being dominated by men.A study by American think tank "The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative", found that of the 1,100 highest-grossing films of the last decade, only 43 were directed by women and only 30 percent of them featured women in leading roles. Tunisian cinema, with a much more limited budget and production - with an average of 12 films per year - is no exception.FOOTAGE OF THE PROJECT (WOMEN FILMING)SOUNSBITES AND TRANSLATIONS OF:ISMAHANE LAHMAR, FOUNDER OF THE PROJECT AND DIRECTOR: "I didn't choose to work with women just because they are women, I chose them because they have so much skill, they have their own voices, their own subjects, their own originality. This is the principle of Feminine Cinema. Besides, many women work in the cinema industry but don't have the possibility of being promoted to high-level positions. "WAFA MIMOUNI, FIRST FEMALE DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN TUNISIA: "It's very tight because we do between five and seven sequences a day, which is a lot for a feature film. It's a lot of pressure. We train these women to try to have a chance at a job and get paid in their next film shoot."DONIA GUESSMI, FIRST FEMALE ASSISTANT MACHINER IN TUNISIA: "In this profession, there are no women who work, I don't know why. Maybe because our society is sexist and believes that there are specific tasks for men. Before, it wasn't accepted for a woman to work in a profession considered "masculine", but now, it's changing."