The Company: placeless films
placeless films llc. (“Aflam bila Makan” in Arabic) was founded in 2013 in Beirut by filmmakers Lara Abou Saifan and Niam Itani.
The company produces films by aspiring and seasoned filmmakers and provides services in film financing & production, fixing, script consulting and story development. placeless films is committed to producing films that bring social and/or human issues of the Global South to the fore. We will develop and produce projects that create, nurture and grow positive change in the world.
Current and future credits under the banner of placeless films include Sarah Francis “Dead Dog”, Hussen Ibrahim’s “Tide”, Anna Fahr’s “Valley of Exile” (2023), Racha Najdi’s “Dear Cairo” (2021), and Niam Itani’s “Twice Upon a Time” (2016), among others.
The Myth: Niam Itani
Niam Itani is an award winning Lebanese-American screenwriter, filmmaker and media executive currently based in Istanbul.
Her projects have been selected for grants and industry events by the Doha Film Institute, Arab Fund for Arts & Culture (AFAC), European Producers Network, DocMed, Royal Film Commission (Jordan), Produire Au Sud, and the Rotterdam Film Lab, among others.
Films she wrote, produced or directed have screened at the Venice Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and other Academy Award qualifying festivals, and won several accolades.
Niam holds a BA in Communication Arts and an MA in Mathematics Education from the Lebanese American University in Beirut (Lebanon), as well as an MFA in Screenwriting from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA (USA). She has taught scriptwriting and video production at both her alma matter and conducted multiple screenwriting and filmmaking workshops.
The Legend: Lara Abou Saifan
Lara Abou Saifan is a veteran Palestinian/Lebanese/Jordanian producer and fixer based in Beirut. She has more than twenty years of experience working on fiction films, nonfiction films and TV productions that aired on channels like the BBC, Al Jazeera, ARTE, MBC, and the Sundance Channel, to name a few.
Since her decision to take on independent producing, Lara has been selected to participate in prestigious programs like the Global Media Makers Program by IFP, the Rotterdam Producers Lab at the Rotterdam Film Festival and the European Producers Network at the Cannes Film Festival, among others.