The MENA Canada Filmmaking Grant is a one of a kind funding stream for a MENA/SWANA-identifying filmmaker or team in Canada to help fund a short film to be presented at the annual MENA Film Festival!
The short film grant provides a single $5,000 initial or “top-up” fund for new and emerging talent with a link to the Canadian MENA/SWANA community.
Rules & Guidelines
All genres are welcome, and experimental and original portrayals of the MENA/SWANA identity and narratives are encouraged.
For any inquiries about the guidelines, eligibility or timeline of the grant, feel free to email info@menafilmfestival.com
Applications
Pre-Production
2025 MENA Film Festival
Production, Delivery and Premiere
We are super excited to announce the winner of the 2024 MENA Canada Filmmaking Grant. We received dozens of amazing applications, and this year’s jury put in overtime to come up with the finalist: “Nader’s Girl” by Omar Mouallem.
Omar is an Edmonton-based writer and filmmaker. Known for weaving together comedic human interest stories with broader social and historical themes, his work bridges literature, film, and journalism. Omar’s feature-length debut, The Lebanese Burger Mafia, premiered at Hot Docs in 2023, winning multiple awards, including Audience Choice at NorthwestFest and Best Documentary Screenplay at the Rosies. His other films, like Digging in the Dirt and Making Kayfabe, bring fresh perspectives to misunderstood places, whether by examining the mental toll of oil and gas labour or exploring the eccentric world of indie wrestling as a "gonzo journalist."
“Nader’s Girl”” is a short film adapted from Saeed Teebi's short story "Cynthia," exploring themes of internalized racism and toxic masculinity within the Canadian immigrant experience. The story follows Nader, a lonely international student from Palestine, who fabricates an imaginary girlfriend, Cynthia, to fit in with his misogynistic college roommates. But as his lie escalates, Nader finds himself emotionally entangled with the idea of Cynthia, ultimately leading him to “break up” with Cynthia, the only person who appreciated him for who he was. Through a darkly humorous lens, the film reveals the uncomfortable pressures on immigrants to conform to societal expectations of foreigners.
MENA is honoured to host Omar for the 2025 MENA Film Festival in January and screen Nader’s Girl at the following year’s festival!
Sara Jade Alfaro-Dehghani is filmmaker and writer hailing from Oshawa, Ontario. She began making films in Montreal while studying at McGill University, developing her short-form work with commercial and music video projects after moving to Toronto in 2017. She directs short form commercial and music videos on the director roster at MERCHANT. Sara’s films explore unique experiences within multi-cultural families - often stemming from her upbringing with an Iranian mother and Mexican father. She frequently writes about language, gender and domestic family dynamics, within a whimsical and dramatic lens.
In addition to filmmaking, Sara is also devoted to outreach and education, and develops workshops and programming for underrepresented filmmaking communities. When she’s not filmmaking, Sara is amateur metal detecting and raising bees at the family farm.
Chilean-Palestinian Film Producer based in Vancouver. Her company Suimanga Films has represented projects in their co-production, finance, and distribution agreements in several film markets around the world. As an International Film Consultant, she has designed and planned distribution and marketing strategies for films and film institutions in Europe, Latin America, Africa, the US, and Canada.
She has served as a Consultant for Doclisboa and Bolivia Lab. She has also worked as a Digital Content Specialist for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Encore+ (Canada Media Fund) and Univision. Additionally, she has been an Evaluator for film funds in Chile, Ecuador, and IBERMEDIA, and Juror at the Uganda Film Festival. In 2022, she became an EAVE graduate, and in 2023, was part of the Berlinale Talents Programme.
She also leads Suimanga Films' international program 'Impact Production Hub' supported in 2023 by the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) and serves on the board of the MENA Film Festival in Vancouver.
Matthew Broughton is a film director, writer, and programmer based in Vancouver, BC. His passion and dedication to film turned into working with VIFF, Vancouver Short Film Festival, MENA Film Festival, and Movies Move Us, which gave him the opportunity to discover and promote new cinematic voices across communities. He’s a certified film fanatic who is driven to share and create stories that impact audiences around the world.
Karen works as a freelance writer, podcast producer and show-runner.
She’s an indigenous Coptic Christian (Egyptian).
She’s living with her family on turtle island. She worked as a dentist before following her passion as a writer. Her work has been published in CBC, Globe and Mail, Today’s Parent and more. She has experience in research, marketing and working in different aspects of media.