Broadcastpro – Page 6 – Virtual BroadcastPro Tech Webinar | 27 July 2023

The first edition of Virtual Emirati Film Week is set to screen seven films by directors who are either from the UAE or live in the country.

Starting from June 18-24, the online event is part of the UAE-Korea cultural dialogue, an initiative that began in 2020 and is aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries. It is organised by the Ministry of Culture and Youth and South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Virtual Emirati Film Week is one of several events held under the initiative that showcases Emirati and South Korean culture. The online event is held in partnership with Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Twofour54, Korean-Arab Society and the Korean Cultural Centre.

Three feature films and four shorts will be screened on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Youth during the week-long event. The titles include Sabeel, From A to B, Shabab Sheyab, Scales, The Shadow, Ummi, and In the Shadows.

Emirati filmmaker Khalid Al Mahmood’s Sabeel is set in the mountains away from city life, the 10-minute film tells the story of two brothers who sell vegetables from their farm by the side of the main road, using the little money they make to care for their grandmother.

From A to B takes viewers on an outrageous road trip from Abu Dhabi to Beirut. The film is directed by Ali F Mostafa.

Directed by Iraqi director Yasir Al Yasiri, the feature film Shabab Sheyab (On Borrowed Time) tells the story of four friends who are spending their senior years in an assisted living facility in Dubai.

Sayidat Al Bahr (Scales) directed by Saudi filmmaker Shahad Amin is about a young girl who stands against her family and village tradition of sacrificing female children to mysterious creatures living in the sea.

The short film revolves around Maryam, a mother trying to save her 9-year-old son who is suffering from a mysterious paranormal phenomenon. Seeking advice, she takes her to a mullah, who then asks her about her faith and what she has done to cause this. The Shadow is directed by Nayla Al Khaja.

In The Shadows is a short documentary that recreates a family situation when one member is confined in a crowded detention centre for almost a month. Directed by Mildred Garcerant, the 10-minute film merges testimonials from family members with evocative monochrome shots of people huddled in a prison cell.

Ahmed Al-Mulla’s first film Ummi (Mommy) is a seven-minute short that focuses on a date between young Emirati couple Suhail and Leila that is going well until Suhail’s mother calls and tries to control his every move.

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Ooredoo and Nokia have announced the introduction of Nokias FastMile 4G and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) throughout Oman.

Work to deploy the technology began back in February, with 15,000 homes and businesses, across the country now having access to the 4G FastMile solutions. Nokias 5G FastMile solutions will be gradually rolled out to 3,000 homes in various city centres.

Speaking about the partnership, Noor Al Sulaiti, Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Oman, said: Fixed wireless access is a critical part of our strategy to provide high-speed internet across Oman. Nokias solution offers a great 4G and 5G experience, so that more of our customers can enjoy the internet with us. The service will take connectivity to the next level, supporting the demands of our residential and business customers for superfast and reliable connectivity.

Rima Manna, Head of the Middle East Market Unit, Nokia MEA, added: We are excited to have partnered with Ooredoo Oman to enable world-class FWA connectivity for its customers, and looking forward to further strengthen our collaboration. Our receivers and gateways are field-proven to provide connectivity and best-in-class speed in the toughest of radio conditions which will help Ooredoo serve a larger area. The high gain antennas guarantee the most efficient use of radio airtime of any customer premise equipment, saving radio costs.

The Nokia FastMile solution will allow Ooredoo to build profitably on its existing Radio Access Network (RAN) installed base and idle rural spectrum so it can offer fixed wireless broadband to urban, suburban and rural users. Nokia FastMile includes customer premise equipment with a built-in modem and antenna, a cloud-based controller for point of sales, monitoring and control, and smartphone applications for installation and support.

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French-Algerian director, screenwriter and producer Mounia Meddour has been appointed a member of the Un Certain Regard jury at the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.

British director Andrea Arnold will head up the international jury. The other jury members will comprise French actress Elsa Zylberstein, Argentinian director, producer and screenwriter Daniel Burman and US writer/director, producer and actor Michael Covino.

After making several documentaries, Elementary Particles (2007), La Cuisine en héritage (2009) and Algerian Cinema: A New Breath, Meddour directed her first short fiction film Edwige in 2011, which received a special mention at the Journées Cinématographiques in Algiers.

Meddour’s debut feature Papicha premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2019 and was Algeria’s Oscar submission in 2020. She is currently working on her next feature film Houria.

The Un Certain Regard jury will judge the 20 features in this year’s lineup, which includes the latest from art-house such as Turkey’s Semih Kaplanoglu (Commitment Hasan), Russian director Aleksey German Jr. (Delo (House Arrest)) and Israel’s Eran Kolirin (Let There Be Morning), as well as first-time directors such as Valdimar Jóhannsson from Iceland — in Un Certain Regard with Noomi Rapace-starrer Lamb, and Chinese filmmaker CB Yi, whose Austrian production Moneyboys premieres in the Cannes sidebar next month.

Onoda – 10 000 Nights in the Jungle, a Japanese-language feature from French director Arthur Harari, will open this year’s Un Certain Regard section on July 7. The jury will announce this year’s winners on Friday, July 16.

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BroadcastPro ME’s two-day Tech Summit concluded yesterday with several takeaways for broadcasters, content providers and backend technology98 suppliers. The virtual event held over June 14-15 covered topics on cloud adoption, migration to IP-based systems, coping with the rush on streaming services and how to maximise the potential of data to offer a better user experience. Besides panel discussions, the first day featured presentations from OSN and Pebble while day 2 included an interesting presentation on cloud playout and streaming from ‘qibb by Techtriq’.

Peter Riz, CTO and Zahra Zayat, Senior VP – OTT Digital and Telco spoke about the relaunch of the new OSN streaming app and presented a case study about the app’s development and journey so far.

Pebble’s Director of Sales and Marketing Alison Pavitt and CTO Miroslav Jeras held a conversation about IP and the numerous challenges associated with it. They discussed how Pebble Control can simplify the move to IP for broadcasters. This was followed by a panel discussion on cloud and how to leverage it for an efficient broadcast setup. Moderated by Nicolas Hans – Partner, Middle East – Broadcast Solutions, the panel featured Chris Fellows, Senior Manager, Solutions Engineering, Zixi; Faraz Arshad – VP of Technology & Infrastructure, StarzPlay; Manish Kapoor – VP of IT and Broadcast MENA, Zee Entertainment ME; and Jared Timmins – Senior Vice President of Solutions at TVU Networks. The panel was unanimous about the advantages cloud broadcast offers and how cloud adoption gained traction during the pandemic when broadcasters had to work remotely and with restricted resources. They also discussed the various challenges broadcasters face in deploying cloud-based solutions and the possible solutions. Some case studies were discussed as well, and cloud was established as an imperative to achieve scalability, efficiency, and flexibility in modern day broadcast setups.

Day 2 of the Tech Summit began with a presentation by Hans Baumgaertner, Senior Solutions Architect Cloud at qibb by Techtriq. He spoke about cloud playout and streaming and how it helps in meeting content distribution requirements. He explained how broadcasters could choose a SaaS or a customised cloud system based on their requirement and leverage its advantages such as speed, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

The first panel discussion of the afternoon was about OTT and covered various aspects of content streaming. Moderator Suhail Ahmed, CEO of One Diversified FZ LLC began the discussion by asking the panellists about how important data was to them. Panellist Bachir Boumediene, Director Streaming & IPTV – Telecom Partnerships MENA at OSN said that data was the key to the success of any OTT service. Salloum El Dahdaah, CEO at White Peaks Solutions added that while data was very important, and technology and features helped prop up a service, content would still take precedence over these factors. Subscribers choose an OTT service based on content first, he said.

Personalisation and discovery as well as social media integration are some of the other features that give edge to OTT services. Adding gaming to content was discussed and the panellists also touched upon co-watching and social interactions while watching content. The importance of ratings and how they influenced choice of viewers was discussed. With regards to CDNs and payment gateways, greater synergy between telcos and broadcasters emerged as a possible solution. Barry Mehdizadeh, CTO at Mawarid Media & Communications Group explained how bottlenecks in connectivity would be solved with edge servers and private CDNs for the MENA region.

The final panel of the day discussed the move to IP, cloud and remote production. Moderator Hasan Sayed Hasan started the discussion with the panellists’ work from home strategies during the pandemic and how broadcasters managed to keep production going, remotely. The panellists spoke about their experiences with disruptive technologies in broadcast and how relevant and practical these technologies were in the MENA region. Raad Haddadin, Head of engineering and IT at Roya TV said that IP would become a reality eventually, but he was not in a rush to implement it just yet. Peter Van Dam, Founder, Audio Video Consulting LLC spoke about his experience with hybrid cloud solutions and how remote production is feasible now, but also noted that OB vans would continue to stay relevant for the next few years.

The panel agreed that selected services could be uploaded to the cloud but broadcasters would still prefer the traditional way for their core business. Deepraj Sandhar of Ross Video stated it may be a good idea for broadcasters to prioritise their services to go to the cloud, for instance playout may run perfectly well from the cloud. Jean Claude Rahme, Head of OB Engineers, ‎Abu Dhabi Media Company – LIVE HD production and facilities, pointed out that the region was ready to adopt IP and leverage the flexibility and scalability it offers. He also elaborated on some of the projects LIVE HD was undertaking to test and prepare for the move to IP.

The panel concluded with a discussion about the benefits of cloud or hybrid cloud over on-premises solutions.

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PlayBox Neo announces new operational features and expanded connectivity for its TV Channel-in-a-Box, AirBox Neo-20 and Capture Suite.

PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box provides all the facilities needed to create and maintain single or multiple television channels within a workflow for local or remote control. Based on AirBox Neo-20 playout automation, the system can be configured to any required scale from optional elements such as Capture Suite media ingest, TitleBox Neo-20 interactive character generator and graphics, and ListBox Neo-20 scheduling.

AirBox Neo-20 can be configured for round-the-clock automated operation on any scale from a regional station or corporate TV service up to a global network broadcasting to multiple timezones in multiple languages. Playlist scheduling can be performed weeks ahead of actual transmission while retaining the freedom to trim, edit or reschedule content or integrate with live production.

The six new features that have been introduced are transport stream and XDCAM MXF file clips can now be played back while still being ingested, GPU acceleration can now be used to achieve fast file decoding, Picture-in-Picture digital video effects can be created within AirBox Neo-20, Real-time loudness compliance ensures the audio output level remains within a preset safe dynamic range, operators are now alerted to absent or frozen video feeds via a web-based multiviewer, and input/output configuration can now be performed using a web-based resource monitor connected via a secure link.

AirBox Neo-20’s connectivity is expanded with support for NDI input. This is additional to the existing compatibility with SDI (AJA Corvid and Blackmagic Decklink); MPEG-2 TS (UDP/RTP) and HTTP(S), RTMP, MMS(H) IP streams. NDI output is also now provided, supplementing the existing SDI (AJA Corvid and Blackmagic Decklink), SRT/UDP/RTP stream and RTMPS outputs.

Capture Suite was developed for use within the UHD/HD/SD production workflow of television networks, post-production facilities or playout service providers. The five new features include Manual, Scheduled and Compliance ingest modes with automated input switching; Editing in Adobe Premiere and Grass Valley Edius Workgroup 9+ can now be performed while ingesting; MXF and TS files being ingested are available for immediate playout via AirBox Neo-20 Automation without having to wait for the ingest process to complete; Loudness audio meters are now included to allow precise audio level adjustment; and a web-based multiviewer with black and freeze frame alarms is now included.

Pavlin Rahnev, CEO of PlayBox Neo, said: “Our Channel-in-a-Box system has developed into a world leader supporting more than 18,500 TV and branding channels in over 120 countries. It derives huge strength from 21 years of innovation powered by our highly experienced and talented development team. The latest advances are based on feedback from our loyal customer base around the globe, and our SI partners working on new projects both for the broadcast mainstream and the expanding online sector. Operator efficiency is the key driver, allowing reliable round-the-clock playout. Scheduling, ingest, QC, video editing, promo-creation, graphics, news banners, tickers, prompter feeds and presentation are all handled within a unified user interface which is easy to learn and to operate.”

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Iridium’s new Chief Technical Officer, Greg Pelton.

Iridium Communications Inc. has announced that Greg Pelton will join the company as Chief Technical Officer (CTO), effective June 17, 2021.

Reporting to Iridium Chief Operations Officer Suzi McBride, Pelton is taking over for retiring CTO Hermon Pon and will lead Iridium’s technology and system engineering teams both internally and with Iridium’s vast partner ecosystem.

Pelton joins Iridium from Pryon, an AI company focused on augmented intelligence for the enterprise, where he served as Chief Product Officer. In this role he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s augmented intelligence product portfolio, leading the engineering team and product development efforts.

Prior to this, Pelton was Vice President of Collaboration and Devices at Avaya, where he managed a portfolio of voice and video endpoints, soft clients and collaboration services. Before Avaya, he served as CTO and Vice President for Infrastructure Engineering at Polycom and led Cisco’s corporate Technology Center where he worked on the Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) programme consisting of developing a router for use in satellites and transitioning of satellite ground networks to multiservice IP networks.

Commenting on the new appointment, Suzi McBride, chief operations officer, Iridium, said: “It’s an exciting time for Iridium, and Greg is a great fit to lead our experienced teams as we continue to maximise the potential of our upgraded constellation, but more importantly to set the technology solutions and strategies for our long-term future. Greg is bringing a wealth of knowledge and innovative thinking to the team. We couldn’t be happier to have him onboard as we continue to disrupt the status quo of satellite connectivity and bring never-before-possible technologies to the world.”

Pelton added: “I’m beyond excited to be joining a company and a team with such a storied history of innovation. Iridium built and operates the first truly global communications network and that feat has yet to be matched by anyone. Our industry is at an inflection point where dramatic changes in workforce distribution and widespread adoption of IoT technology will drive demand for the kinds of services that only Iridium can offer. It’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss.”

A holder of 39 patents, Pelton has a history of innovation and has worked extensively in the telecommunications and networking industries, as well as serving on management and advisory boards across a range of innovative technology startups.

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Cinedigm has finalised the acquisition of FoundationTV and has created a new division in India.

With this acquisition, Cinedigm has integrated FoundationTV’s underlying technology portfolio with the Matchpoint digital distribution platform along with their respective software engineering team into Cinedigm India. The new division will serve as the Company’s engineering, research and development hub focused on next-generation video streaming technology and emerging technologies such as cryptocurrencies and NFT.

As part of the acquisition, FoundationTV’s engineering team will join Cinedigm and will be responsible for further developing and extending the combined platform’s state-of-the-art capabilities and next-generation roadmap.

In addition to enhancing and supplementing Cinedigm’s technical prowess in OTT and digital distribution, the Cinedigm India team will begin architecting and developing the underlying technology for a global “umbrella” service that will allow Cinedigm to showcase its portfolio of more than 20 streaming channels and more than 15,000 hours of AVOD, SVOD & TVOD video content.

The fully integrated platform will also be used to power and expand the company’s existing portfolio of streaming services while consolidating Cinedigm’s recent acquisitions like The Film Detective, Fandor and Screambox into one unified platform.

Commenting on the development, Erick Opeka, Chief Strategy Officer and President of Cinedigm Networks, said: “This deal marks the beginning of Cinedigm’s global expansion with the entrance into the world’s fastest-growing streaming market. Not only will we have a world-class engineering hub, but we will also have an incredibly experienced team of professionals with deep, intrinsic market knowledge that will accelerate the growth of our streaming initiatives.”

Samrat Ganguly, Founder of FoundationTV, added: “Through this partnership, we are thrilled to integrate our intelligence-driven cloud-native streaming technology platform into Cinedigm’s growing streaming business. There’s a strong need for content in the booming Southeast Asian market and the technology will allow Cinedigm to expand their global streaming footprint to a new enthusiastic audience.”

Cinedigm India will also be tasked with leveraging Cinedigm’s current roster of streaming channels and content to build new experiences for the entire South Asian market, the second largest in the world with an estimated 800m streaming users monthly. As part of the acquisition, two founders of FoundationTV, Sudipta Ghorui and Sudeept Bhatnagar, will assume leadership roles and jointly oversee the Cinedigm India operations.

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Emirati feature film Abdullah is set to screen within a special cinema screening programme for 48 hours through an online platform that was launched in collaboration with Nahda Foundation, and Kino Pod Baranami in April, 2020. The screening comes as part of introducing the remarkable development of the emerging Emirati cinema.

Abdullah follows the story of a young man who grew up in a very conservative family where many things are “haram” (banned), while he struggles over the years to hide his love for music.

Written and directed by Humaid Alsuwaidi, who also co-produced the film along with Ahmed Lotfy. The film stars Mohammed Ahmed, Mansour Al Feeli, Fatima Altaei, Alaa Shaker, David Daly and Brent Jenkins. MAD Solutions handles the film’s distribution across the Arab World.

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The Red Sea Film Festival Foundation has launched the Red Sea Fund. The $10m fund will support projects with directors from the Arab World and Africa, launching a new generation of filmmakers and supporting established auteurs as they bring their work from script to screen.

The fund will back more than 100 projects in its first year, creating a boost for filmmakers from Africa and the Arab world by supporting fiction, documentary and animation feature films, as well as episodic content. Additionally, Saudi nationals will be able to apply to the Red Sea Fund to support short films in development and production.

Speaking about the fund, Edouard Waintrop, Red Sea International Film Festival Artistic Director, said: “Helping African and Arab cinema grow, that’s a very exciting responsibility. That’s what the Red Sea Fund will do at every stage of the making of the chosen movies and episodic content. In providing more than 100 grants of up to $10m to help the development, production and post-production of movies across the Arab World and Africa, the Red Sea Fund will help cinema that is in full metamorphosis.”

The Red Sea Fund is part of the Red Sea Film Foundation’s commitment to the regional screen sector, which will also include launching the inaugural Red Sea International Film Festival that will take place from November 11 – 20, 2021.

The Festival will see the launch of the Red Sea Souk, a regional marketplace and industry hub. Red Sea Souk will include a project market, with pitching sessions of more than 20 projects from the Arab world and Africa, as well as a Films-in-Progress workshop. All projects that apply to the Red Sea Fund will automatically be eligible for the Red Sea Souk – project market and Red Sea Souk films-in progress Workshop.

The Red Sea Souk – Project Market will take place from November 12-15, 2021, at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah. The projects will compete for the Red Sea Development and Production Awards respectively in the amount of US$25,000 and US$100,000.

The Red Sea Souk Films-in-Progress Workshop will also take place from November 12-15, 2021. Each selected project in Films-in-Progress will compete for the Red Sea Post-Production Awards for US$30,000.

Shivani Pandya, Red Sea International Film Festival’s Festival Managing Director, added: “The Red Sea Fund is a major boost for the African and Arab film industry. Over the past two decades, we have seen the Arab and African film industry grow and flourish. The Fund and the Red Sea Souk will provide more tools to support the Arab and African film business to make even more of an impact on the international marketplace with the launch of its project market and films in-progress workshop this November.”

The Red Sea Souk will also contain panels, networking events, workshops and booths connecting the international film community to the new Saudi market.

Applications are welcome from around the world to support projects that are being helmed by an African or Arab director. The Red Sea Fund is open from June 15 – July 21, 2021, with all details available on the website.

The Red Sea Fund will be split across three main categories; Red Sea Fund – Development, Red Sea Fund – Production, and Red Sea Fund – Post-Production.

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Intigral has announced the release of an array of new titles for the summer season on its OTT platform Jawwy TV, ranging from original titles to exclusive Arab and Western films and series comprising of numerous genres.

Content additions for the month encompass several exclusive shows premiering for the first time, most notably the awaited pan-Arab series DownTown, a contemporary drama that conveys various romantic stories and thrilling incidents from Beirut, the Khaleeji marriage drama movie Ya Badaa, and the travel animation series Al Rehla. Viewers will also get access to new Egyptian movie releases including Hamlet Faro’on, Akher Deik Fi Masr, and Bani Adam.

Jawwy TV will additionally broadcast several acclaimed Western titles from its global content providers this month. FOX+ will be airing the Married at First Sight series, all eight seasons of 24, and all four parts of the famous Die Hard movies. Furthermore, Jawwy TV will be launching several new TVOD movie options available for rent starting from June, including Jungleland, Colors of Love, Blast Beat, Long Weekend, and Seized.

The new content offerings reiterate Intigral’s ongoing commitment and efforts to present a wide and diverse array of entertainment experience to its audiences across the region in line with its MENA geographical expansion plans.

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