EU awards celebrate young talents in animation
AMMAN — Originally a sculptor and a painter, Syrian Morhaf Youssef is also a self-taught animator.
“I started from scratch; I know how to paint, I know how to see things from many angles, and that’s how I started to work by myself,” the Jordan-based Youssef, who is from Tartus, Syria, told The Jordan Times.
His short animated film, inspired by the crisis in his home country which he left seven months ago, depicts the effects of war on civilians. It won him accolades at the My Animated World competition on Friday.
“I wanted to raise awareness for peace in the whole world,” he said.
The competition is part of a year-long programme by the EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) cluster to support the growth of creative industries in Jordan.
EUNIC launched the competition in April 2013 in cooperation with Rubicon, a Jordanian digital content production company, to “shed light on Jordan’s animation talents and to demonstrate their potential to possible future employers”, according to an EUNIC statement.
The two other winners, announced after a screening of the films at the King Hussein Business Park, were Mohammad Ramadan and Saif Al Atrash. An EUNIC jury selected the winning films based on the story sequence, visuals and composition, according to the statement.
They will receive internships of varying lengths at Rubicon.
“I am very happy and excited to win and get this internship,” Youssef said. “It is very difficult to work in animation… and there is no academic training,” he added.
The competition, funded by the EU in partnership with the Greater Amman Municipality, received eight entries.
“Probably 30 per cent of the participants were students, the rest are either working or trying to find work but not necessarily in their field of creativity, which is why we are trying to encourage them so that this is a viable employment option,” Vanessa Kaoukji, project coordinator for EUNIC Creative Industries, told The Jordan Times.
Some of the participants seemed to have been untrained and acquired their skills on their own, Kaoukji said.
“It would be great if we can provide more training opportunities for people like them and encourage people who have had some training but don’t know where to work now,” she added.
“The creative industry is very important for the advancement of cultural understanding... and this encompasses everything from dance to music, architecture to design, to gaming and animation,” Marc Jessel, the British Council’s country director, said on the sidelines of the event.
The British Council is one of five European cultural institutes that make up EUNIC, which also include Institut Français, Goethe Institute, Instituto Cervantes and Società Dante Alighieri.
“What we are seeking to do is inspire young people around the creative industries and to encourage more people to choose it as a future,” Jessel said.
Youssef is optimistic about the future of the animation industry in the Middle East despite the current difficulty of finding employment in the sector.
“I don’t know if the future will be good for Arabic animation, but I am always optimistic… my dream is to make a full Arabic animated movie, wholly made by Arab hands and shown at international festivals.”
Originally published in 
Found on http://jordantimes.com/eu-awards-celebrate-young-talents-in-animation