DUBAI — Calling all aspiring Steven Spielbergs, budding Andy Warhols and J.K Rowling wannabes! Aflamnah, a crowdfunding website that allows individuals to raise money for fresh ideas is the first such initiative to be launched in the Middle East, a statement said. The concept, brand new to the region, is a reward-based website designed to help talented individuals fund a wide range of ideas that includes films, games, television, art, music, photography and fashion from passionate like-minded individuals pledging support to help bring their idea to life.
Aflamnah is aimed at encouraging people in the Arab World with a dream to think bigger and bolder and inspire and engage the public to get behind an idea from the beginning to help it reach a wider range of audience. In a bid to build on the incredible talent and creativity in the region, Aflamnah focuses on projects for the Arab World by Arabs or by individuals or organizations that care about cultures, societies and people who reside in any of its countries. The crowdfunding platform aims to turn fantasies into reality and enrich, inspire and educate all those involved. The initiative hopes to change the way creativity in the region is conceived and aims to encourage a new generation of directors, geeks, artists and storytellers to pursue their passion. Vida Rizq, principal founder of Aflamnah, said: “Money is always a huge barrier to creativity and raising the funds for an idea is incredibly challenging. The aim of Aflamnah is to encourage and change the lives of aspiring filmmakers or budding artists to get their projects in the public domain. Aflamnah is all about connecting creative people with audiences who want to help someone's dream come true. People want to be inspired and want to embrace an innovative idea and support with any amount of money whether it's $10 or $10,000.” People must post the information related to their idea on the Aflamnah website and once the idea has met with the guidelines they are given access to make their project live on the site. The idea owners set a funding target and make it clear what the money will be used for. They also select their funding period at either 30 or 60 or 90 days. They set rewards related to the contributions being made. And they need to create a video to explain their idea and most of all inspire people to take part. Aflamnah has no ownership over the projects and acts to help support projects to get successfully funded. Aflamnah was launched on July 1 with several projects that have already succeeded on the international stage. These included award-winning director, Annemarie Jacir's new film “When I Saw You” that raised over $10,000. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and its Arab premiere at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival recently. Projects currently crowd funding include The Brain that Sings, a documentary seeking to support two Arab families living with autism using music therapy. The project is aiming to raise $60,000 and starts filming in January. (Details can be obtained through link http://www.aflamnah.com/en/the-brain-that-sings/).
