•  

     

     

     

    We are #anticlichés storytellers.

    We want to share another face of the Middle East by unveiling real people's life stories.

  • Our Mission

     

    Friends of the Middle East is a social enterprise created in 2016 in Paris to develop the knowledge on the Middle East & foster the understanding of real people's life experiences.

     

    It is also based in Lyon (France), Beirut (Lebanon) and is building a worldwide community.

     

  • What We Do

    We design activities to serve our mission using a financially sustainable approach.

    broken image

    1. DOCUMENTARIES

    CREATION - DIRECTION - PRODUCTION

    We create high-quality videos & documentaries telling the stories of real people from the region. We design distribution impact plans & we work with all kinds of actors.

    broken image

    2. COMMUNITIES

    ENGAGEMENT - DISTRIBUTION

    We are building engaged communities all over the world to support our mission, the documentary distribution and to create a wider impact.

    broken image

    3. MEETUPS

    EDUCATION - ACTION

    We design and organize meetups to deal with key thematics of the region through Middle Eastern people's life experiences. They are taking place in Paris, Lyon & Beirut.

  • Key figures

    800

    "Meetup" members (France & Lebanon)

    8

    meetups organized (France & Lebanon)

    43

    active members, volunteers & connectors

    16

    countries represented

  • Our worldwide community

    After one year, this is where we are.

    broken image
  • Documentary project:

    "Changemakers in the Arab World"

    A documentary project initiated and currently developed by Friends of the Middle East in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia.

    It will tell the inspirational quest of Clara, young lebanese, and Thomas, young french, both going on a journey to meet "changemakers" carrying solutions in the Arab World.

    You want to co-produce this film?

  • Film partners

    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
  • (Dream) Team

    Here is the founding team followed by our film crew!

    broken image

    CLEMENT TOURON

    CO-FOUNDER

    General Secretary

    Clément, French, can’t stop thinking about his trip to Israel/Palestine. With a history-geography & journalism background, he’s willing to explore the unexplored topics of the region.

    broken image

    NUJUD Z. AMOUDI

    CO-FOUNDER

    Community Developer

    Nujud came from Syria to France in 2014 and is eager to share different realities of her native region. She has a talent when it comes to engaging people and coming up with creative ideas !

    broken image

    ROMAN FOY

    CO-FOUNDER

    President

    Roman, born French from an Algerian mother and a French father, wrote a thesis about agricultural systems in Syria, he’s now teaching History-Geography at high-school. He speaks arabic and is interested in using popular education to build bridges between people.

    broken image

    THOMAS VAILLEUX

    INITIATOR & CO-FOUNDER

    Storytelling for Impact

    Thomas has been travelling for 18 years from Morocco to Iran to explore people’s differences and lives. He’s on a mission to unveil the Other Middle East, human and inspiring. He speaks lebanese and is in charge of developing the organization.

    broken image

    CLARA KOSSAIFI

    FILM DIRECTOR

    Clara is a young awarded Lebanese director with an extraordinary talent to bring people’s emotions to the big screen using a delicate artistic technique. By co-directing our documentary, she’s satisfyong her need to make an impact at her scale.

    broken image

    BACHAR KHATTAR

    DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

    Bachar is a renowned videographer in Lebanon with the spirit of an entrepreneur, rare thing! Doer, Bachar is also moved by the necessity of educating our children to become responsible citizens to change our societies.

    broken image

    TANIA KAMMOUN

    SOUND ENGINEER

    Tania is an experienced Lebanese sound engineer, addicted to her smile and positive attitude! She brings humor when tensions are arising while being always available and reliable.

    broken image

    NICOLAS CARDAHI

    EDITOR

    Nicolas is a thoughtful French-Lebanese videographer and editor. Workaholic, he’s solutions-oriented and autonomous, a great chance when it comes to editing a movie!

  • Board of Advisors

    We have gathered experimented consultants, entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship experts on the region or on a specific field to help us make the right decisions to support our development.

    broken image

    BORIS MARCEL

    PROJECT GROWTH

    French social entrepreneur, consultant and speaker about social innovation, Boris has co-founded several projects such as Say Yess, Ticket for Change, Europe Tomorrow and more recently Tomorrow! He is also managing an urban agriculture social entreprise called « Cols verts ».

    broken image

    INTISSAR BOUFTAIM

    SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

    Passionate about entrepreneurship and social innovation,

    Intissar believes in the power of people to tackle our world's most pressing challenges. She co-founded the Moroccan Center for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in 2012 and currently lead the pre-incubation program of Ticket for Change "Le Parcours Entrepreneur".

    broken image

    AHMED HATEM

    SOCIAL INNOVATION

    Ahmed helps social entrepreneurs shift paradigms in business and government. He now directs the MENA Venture Program at Ashoka, where he searches for, mentors and invests in social entrepreneurs across the MENA region. Earlier, he was part of the Innovation Lab at UNDP Egypt to build incubators in three governorates as well as implement problem-solving camps.

    broken image

    NATHANAEL COSTE

    FILM DISTRIBUTION

    Nathanaël, former Geographer, has co-directed several independent documentary films. Co-director of the initiarory road-trip "A Quest for Meaning" (4500 collaborative screening - 3 years - 60 countries), he is currently developing the association Kamea Meah as an alternative platform for documentary creation and distribution.

  • You want to work with us?

    You're interested in co-producing our documentaries?

    You want to volunteer or co-create a mission with us?

    You have a question?

    Let's get in touch!

  • Follow our adventures / Join our events

    We're always eager to connect, share experiences and learn from the others.

    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image
    broken image