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<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nEl-Jelailati describes himself as being \u201cpossessed by the film bug\u201d. This fundamentally becomes part of what drives him to keep creating an authentic filmic style shaped by his adoration for classic cinema and the indie film movements. Screenwriter and film director Khalid El-Jelailati, also known as IndieKhalid, has set his mind on overcoming all hurdles to achieve the goals that help him share his love for making independent films. El-Jelailati describes himself as being \u201cpossessed by the film bug\u201d. This fundamentally becomes part of what drives him to keep creating an authentic… Continue reading Indie Filmmaker Khalid El-Jelailati Set On Breaking The \u2018Culture Ceiling\u2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15371\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Having grown up between two cultures, that of an Arabesque Lebanon and a spirited South Africa, this filmmaker uses this diversity to his advantage, \u201cI want to tell stories from an Arab\/Muslim point of view. I didn’t grow up in an artistic household. I wasn’t exposed to any sort of artistic culture. Indie<\/em> is so important to me because it made the magic of cinema understandable as a craft. It democratised filmmaking for a young boy from Arab culture.\u201d
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When asked to reflect on his filmmaking journey, El-Jailailati is very clear about his biggest challenge; he describes this as the cultural glass ceiling of the industry. This hurdle of elitism and exclusivity meant that he had to overcome countless barriers but has forged ahead with gusto and grit. Khalid has written, directed and produced many projects, including feature films Aya(2018), Nandi(2021) & Olivia(2022).
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His advice to young filmmakers starting their careers is \u201cGo out and make a film. There\u2019s so much you don\u2019t know about filmmaking that you can\u2019t learn in a book. You must set up a scene and film it, and then you\u2019ll know what it means to be a filmmaker.\u201d
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The filmmaker has some exciting projects on the horizon. He is working on a black and white animated short film, is in the middle of writing his next feature film that he will be directing, and after a rigorous selection process, he has been selected to produce a micro-budget project for the NFVF and Netflix.
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\u201cFilmmaking, more specifically cinema, is about access. Access to opportunities, resources, and the confidence to explore. With this campaign with Netflix alongside the NFVF, we are now helping lift the \u2018Culture Ceiling\u2019 for grassroots communities who need this kind of access.\u201d
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The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have had many devastating effects worldwide. This is true for the film industry but following El-Jailalati\u2019s journey inspires hope for the independent filmmaker. There is a flickering light at the end of a cinematic tunnel, and it’s only going to get brighter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"