HOME OF CINE-JAM The Home Of Cine-Jam is a creative Home for authenticity in Art as in Life.It is the production home behind ZYARA Zyara is an Arabic word that means Visit in English. Zyara is a web-series of three to five minute videos. It depicts intimate portraits of various individuals sharing their hopes and dreams, their love stories, their fears, their family albums and most memorable experiences. Zyara promotes oneness by exploring universal human emotions, away from religion, politics or anything that separates human beings. Zyara is a borderless and limitless webseries, it is addressed to every human being on this planet open enough to receive it. It is an act of love towards Mankind and every emotion that unites them, with only one rule: authenticity in art as in life. Departure point: Beirut city! The Soul behind it To be a filmmaker-jammer, to be water, to get in touch with our creative instinct, to trust our originality and always create from that source that brings out our uniqueness.the key for cinejamming is to base our work on our impulse and trust that our images and sounds are only ours as they emerge from us and only us; therefore they are unique. The Production Home of Cine-Jam productions are universal, timeless and borderless, yet they hold the identity of the makers very strongly. There are no rules except the one of authenticity, and the challenge is to channel and shape our art to reach the world and find its place on Planet Earth.
DIRECTOR S TREATMENT Zyara is about going on a short visit to people s homes and exploring their emotions and treasured experiences. I choose to portray characters through impressionistic visuals, inspired by their own world. When I look at people, I see layers: layers of skin, space and light.that is exactly how I am cinematically treating Zyara, expressing my take on human energies and stories.directing for me is more about channeling emotions through images and sound, while cinematography is about transforming the subject into light, darkness and colors. My aim through Zyara is to tell people s stories in a genuine way, reflecting their personality and space, and transforming them into a timeless and borderless short films/series.
THE CREW Denise Jabbour Producer Denise Jabbour is an Executive Producer from Beirut, Lebanon. She received her degree in Filmmaking from the Holy Spirit University Kaslik, Lebanon and eventually earned her spot as agency producer at TBWA/RAAD Dubai United Arab Emirates, handling print, radio, and TVC productions for many prestigious brands. After a few years, she decided it was time for a change and moved back to Lebanon to work on story-telling. She worked as a production manager on 2 Arabic web-drama series: Shankaboot (winner of best web-series at the Geneva International Film Festival in 2010 and the International Emmy Award in Cannes 2011) produced by Batoota Films in association with the BBC trust funds, and the second was Fasateen (winner of The Grand Prix Du Jury at Marseille Film Festival), produced by Batoota Films in association with Yahoo-Maktoob. Since 2009, she has been handling Middle East productions for Visionaire Media & Layalina Productions, working on projects such as American Caravan, Injaz, Trading Places and On The Road In America. Through it all, she has been enjoying life fully, learning from every adventure she embarks on, working with amazing partners, surrounded by a passionate crew and most of all at the end of each journey delivering a beautiful story to audiences across the world.
Muriel Aboulrouss Director/Cinematographer She won Best cinematography at the Arab Screen International Awards for The shower a short film by Michel Kamoun, with whom she also shot his first feature film Falafel. In 2010, she shot her 3rd feature film Stray Bullet, by Lebanese Director Georges Hashem. Stray Bullet won Best Cinematography at Namur film festival among other awards. Muriel Aboulrouss is an awardwinning cinematographer from Beirut, Lebanon and the first woman to actually work as a cinematographer in the Arab World. Her numerous cinematography credits include award-winning documentaries Marcedes, directed by Hady Zaccak and Teta Alf Marra a biographical documentary by Mahmoud Kaabour. Muriel also shot Shankaboot, the first Arab web series produced by the BBC trust fund and Batoota films. Shankaboot won Reflet d Or for best web series fiction at Geneva Film Festival 2010 and again won the digital Emmy award in 2011. Muriel has been working selectively on documentaries and films following her passion, exercising the art of making films.
Liliane Hanbali Editor Khalil Abourrousse Colorist Rachelle Noja Camera Assistant Mouhab Shaneh Saz Sound Engineer Liliane Hanbali is a film editor in Beirut, Lebanon. She has been working since 1997 on TV commercials, documentaries, short and feature films. She opened her own production company WAHM in 2010, taking on all kinds of film productions. Her commitment and passion for storytelling make her a pillar in the creation of Zyara. Khalil Abourrousse is a colorist in Beirut, Lebanon. He has been working since early age in photo printing and photo editing until he found his passion in color grading stories and emotions on film. He is the owner of Lilapost, a postproduction boutique. Rachelle Noja is a focus puller and junior cinematographer in Beirut, Lebanon. Rachelle is a very professional, passionate and talented person who adds value to any production she takes part in. Mouhab Shaneh Saz is a sound engineer in Beirut, Lebanon. He has been in the business for 20 years, working on films, TV and web series, TV commercials and documentaries. He established Aura Sound Pro in 2010 as a rental company for sound equipment and crew hire, representing young talented sound engineers that he trains and supervises. Mouhab currently resides in Beirut but travels the world wherever sound takes him.
THE PILOTS zyara with Souad Razzouk Farmer Beirut, Lebanon
zyara with Dei Al Ayyoubi Visual artist Beirut, Lebanon
zyara with Henry Loussian Jewelry designer Batroun, Lebanon
zyara with Perar Naimeh Fisherman Okaibeh, Lebanon
THE DREAM MAKERS
DURING THE NDU FILM FESTIVAL 2014 Zyara was screened to the public (Around 200 people) Here are some of the feedbacks it provoked
HOME OF CINE-JAM PARTNERS
CONTACT INFO Denise Jabbour Producer denisejabbour@gmail.com T 00 961 70 197856