A few months had passed since the outbreak of war in Yemen. The capital, Sana’a, was enduring daily bombardment. Amid these circumstances, the Sawt Foundation launched the “Cinema Sawt” project, aimed at raising awareness about the humanitarian and social tragedies caused by conflict and war. This is achieved through screening films that depict the realities of crises and conflicts. The initiative began by showing films in a small café, an attempt to revive the “seventh art” (cinema) in a country engulfed in turmoil. From start to finish, the project achieved remarkable success.
The donor, the Prince Claus Fund—an independent Netherlands-based foundation supporting culture and development worldwide—took note of this success and consequently approved funding for a second phase of “Cinema Sawt”. The project’s objective across both phases extended beyond reviving Yemeni cinema; it sought to activate the role of arts in all their forms and culture through every channel, thereby reducing destructive impulses within individuals—especially against the backdrop of an ongoing war that had drawn dozens of Yemenis into its fold.
Throughout the project, 20 films were screened. Following each screening, a cinema specialist or writer was hosted to present an analysis before opening discussions with the audience. Among its tangible outputs, Sawt Foundation published two books documenting both phases: the first titled “Cinema Sawt… Soft Change”, and the second “Cinema Sawt… An Imprint of Change”.
