Impact case study database

Audience reach

In 2015, the Amnesty International screening of Where Should the Birds Fly had 150 attendees, a mix of activists, film enthusiasts and general public. In 2016, 157 people altogether attended the Crisis & Creativity season at The Mosaic Rooms. Visitors were largely newcomers to the gallery with varying levels of prior knowledge and experience of the Arab World. Demographic data shows that the season attracted new, younger and more diverse audiences to the gallery [S1]. As its Director attests, “ We found the interest in attending was much higher than expected, with the screenings all selling out, and were delighted with the attendance. We were particularly pleased to see from the audience questionnaire a potentially higher attendance from an audience under the age of 35, who we are keen to target and expand on, and that many were first time visitors” [S2]. In 2017, the three public film screenings and filmmaker Q&As at NYU Abu Dhabi were attended by over 280 people, including students, staff and Abu Dhabi residents, with all three screenings fully booked. In 2019, The Mosaic Rooms had 90 attendees (excluding participants) for The Paradox of Creative Constraints symposium, creating a full house at the gallery for the entire day.

Furthermore, Chaudhuri’s article, “Five films that will help you understand the modern Arab world”, which accompanied Crisis & Creativity at The Mosaic Rooms, was shared 8,406 times on Facebook and Twitter via The Conversation and Middle East Eye, enabling a wider community to engage with the season’s insights. It led to Chaudhuri being invited to discuss her research findings on portrayals of Arab women and filmmaking constraints to a live audience of 146 people on the BBC World Service programme The Cultural Frontline, broadcast in March 2019 to 79 million worldwide and uploaded as a podcast on the BBC website with 1,026 downloads in the first six weeks [S3].

Impacts for beneficiary groups

(1) Impact on the understanding of attending audiences

Responding to the choice of film and its contextual framing, audience members at the Amnesty International screening and panel discussion of Where Should the Birds Fly confirmed that the event broke previously-held prejudices and stereotypes derived from mainstream media, commenting that the film was “[an] eye opening” insight into the lives of Palestinians in Gaza [S4].

Audience surveys for the Crisis & Creativity season at The Mosaic Rooms attest that attendees connected with what they saw as a shared humanity in the films, taking them beyond the frequent dehumanisation of Arabs in mainstream media (via a prevailing association with terrorism) and towards empathy with people affected by conflict [S1]. At The Paradox of Creative Constraints, although some attendees came from or had worked in the Middle East and were therefore already informed, the symposium universally deepened their understanding of freedom of expression in the region. One attendee stated, “ I was glad of a space that didn’t presume a ‘Middle East states are repressive’ neo-colonial stereotype & instead gave over to the complexity of how art markets (markets generally) & transnational currents might be just as repressive as forces” [S5]. The audience gained detailed insights into the challenges that filmmakers face, overturning received wisdoms. Many were surprised to discover how much the production and distribution of Middle Eastern films is affected by Western stereotypes, remarking that: “the process of filmmaking is more fraught with difficulty than I previously assumed”, with these difficulties owing to “very diverse factors”; “I now recognise finding funding sources as a big challenge while censorship may carry less weight!” [S5] Some resolved to change habits, to “work on making a difference myself to encourage people to challenge the social norms/constraints set by colonial rules and limitations” and “ as an audience be open to new fresh stories and not expect the old exotic stories” [S5].

(2) Benefits for filmmakers

Chaudhuri’s film screenings, panels and interviews/short articles published on The Mosaic Rooms blog and The Conversation have helped independent filmmakers from around the world, giving them greater exposure. She has supported their activist goals by directing attention to their work and encouraging audiences to stretch beyond mainstream fare. One film that she curated at NYU Abu Dhabi in 2017, Little Gandhi: The Lost Truth of the Syrian Uprising, with the director attending for a Q&A, was subsequently selected as Syria’s entry for Best International Feature Film in the 90th Academy Awards. It was chosen by a committee of artists in exile recognised by the Motion Picture Academy, bypassing the Syrian government. In June 2019, the director stated that “ The film screening at NYU Abu Dhabi contributed to raise the profile of the film and assisted in increasing our film’s international outreach” through a screening circuit that included the US Congress, Canadian Parliament, United Nations, Yale, Harvard, Sorbonne and Essex – Chaudhuri facilitated the Essex screening as well – and he says this “impactful profile” led to the film being “the first SYRIAN film ever to be officially selected” for this Oscar category [S6].

The Paradox of Creative Constraints symposium enabled filmmakers to share their experiences of constraints and learn from each other’s creative solutions which they could take back to their work in their respective countries and tackle those challenges more effectively. The safe space that Chaudhuri created for participants to reflect on their practice led one filmmaker to acknowledge that the symposium helped them find the “ courage of my voice” as a way of handling self-censorship, a prevalent problem impeding artistic expression in the Middle East [S5]. The symposium enhanced the filmmakers’ networks by connecting them with peers from the region as well as funders and human rights defenders whose support they can now access more effectively through personal contacts [S5]. As Index on Censorship’s Associate Arts Producer attested in 2019, for her it led to “ an ongoing dialogue with a particular film-maker exploring in depth the nature of self-censorship in this context” [S7]. The symposium also aided filmmakers by increasing public awareness of the difficult conditions under which they operate (see **(1)**).

(3) Impact on policy and audience reach of participating organisations

The Crisis & Creativity season pioneered a new format of visitor engagement for The Mosaic Rooms, and The Paradox of Creative Constraints symposium was the first time that it had hosted a day’s film event. Both enabled the gallery to expand the issues with which it engages and its networks. Following the high turnouts and consistently positive audience feedback on format and content, The Mosaic Rooms Director affirmed in December 2019 that “ These results demonstrate a need and interest for such film events from a wider audience and we very much hope to bring these elements into our programme moving forward” [S2].

For Index on Censorship, an organization that tends to focus on state censorship in other countries, the symposium helped them to understand that filmmakers also self-censor themselves as a result of Western stereotyping, in order to get their films made and distributed internationally. The event led to a policy shift to expand their remit to address this, as Index’s Associate Arts Producer testified, “ For me, the key take-away from the symposium was that this form of constraint has to be acknowledged as a significant and pervasive factor in the field. The predominantly white, middle class cultural institutions in the West, including Index on Censorship, that promote and support freedom of expression as a universal right, must engage with the full significance of this form of censorship as a vital component of our work” [S7].

The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF), designed to support filmmakers from countries on the DAC-list of the OECD and low-ranking countries on the World Press Freedom Index, benefited by hearing filmmakers speak about their challenges. The symposium led to a restructuring of their funding processes. Like many funding selection panels, the HBF’s committees had previously consisted mostly of Western consultants whose choices, the filmmakers at the symposium argued, tend to reflect regional stereotypes. In July 2020, HBF’s Manager stated, “ The panel provided me with input that I used in the fine tuning of our selection procedure … from now on we are going to include new committee members in every committee, focussing on committee members from Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe (the regions in which we support film projects)” [S8].

(4) Impact on Pedagogical Practice

Chaudhuri’s course influenced the design and delivery of curricula in disciplines across NYU Abu Dhabi. As NYUAD’s Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Academic Development testified in June 2019, it “was so well-conceived that I’ve used it over the last three years to help new faculty members approach their own course development with imagination, specificity, and high standards”. The University sustained the practice of curating Arab cinema to the general public: “In the wake of the series’ success, our Film and New Media program, in collaboration with the university’s Arts Centre and the Sorbonne’s campus in Abu Dhabi, has curated an ongoing public program in Arab cinema on the same model” [S9].