21 Jun IEFTA Awards Cherine Karam €1000 cash prize at Close Up Pitching Forum
At the recent Close Up Pitching Forum held in Georgia, IEFTA awarded Cherine Karam (Lebanon) a cash prize of €1000 for her ‘project in development’, “Depot-Vente”, a feature length documentary about Nawal and her a flourishing vintage shop in a collapsing Beirut.
Cherine Karam (Director)
Cherine Karam has worked for 10 years in creative and artistic fields as a facilitator rather than as an artist, first at an advertising agency and then in a contemporary art gallery. Throughout these experiences, she has supported and followed artists closely as they were developing their ideas into artworks. More recently, she came to realise that she wanted to be in a more creative role herself. Thinking further about which creative medium she would focus on naturally led to filmmaking, which combines her love for writing with her fascination for cinema as a means of storytelling.
Winner of €1000 cash prize for Project in Development at Close Up Pitching Forum 2023.
Lianne Llewellyn presenting the award to Cherine Karam.
About Depot-Vente (working title)
Depot-Vente is the most celebrated vintage shop in Lebanon and a place to escape the turbulent modern reality that is Beirut and an island of hope that seems insulated from the reigning gloominess. Nawal is Depot-Vente’s founder and her charisma has cultivated a space in outcasts of society can find community and be themselves.