As the director Steven Soderbergh said, editing is a process that reveals all the advantages and disadvantages of film. That is why editing is one of the most important jobs in filmmaking. What difficulties do editors face when they create documentary films? How to master and systematise the huge volumes of footage and stick to the truth of life? What is special about working with debutant directors, and how to tie real-life and screen time together? These issues will be discussed by this year’s festival jury member, Quitaiba Barhamji.
Qutaiba was born in Damascus and lives in Paris. His editing work has received multiple awards. He has edited documentaries and feature films in 12 different languages. His work has travelled around the globe at festivals including Venice, Berlin, IDFA, Rotterdam, Paris, Nyon and many others. The films he has worked on include Still Recording (2018, directed by Ghiath Ayoub and Saeed Al Batal), which won several awards at the latest Venice Film Festival and has been selected for our DOCU/BEST programme. Qutaiba also works as an editing consultant and trainer for several organisations in Europe and the Middle East.
