The short films that the students made were screened and appreciated with applause JEDDAH: Dar Al-Hekma University in Jeddah has teamed up with the New York Film Academy to run a five-day course to give students in Jeddah filmmaking basics. After learning the basics, they were asked to put what they had learned into practice by writing, directing and producing short films. As the students learned so much in five days, certificates were handed out to them at a ceremony on July 8 at the university. The ceremony took place in the presence of the television director Gilbert Shilton (Law & Order, The Big Easy), Tami Alexander, vice president of the New York Film Academy, and Fahad Al-Shaikh, a Saudi student of the academy. The short films that the students made were screened and appreciated with applause. Each film conveyed a different message and was proof of the creativity, potential and passion of the student. After the films were screened, Gilbert Shilton distributed the certificates to the students and sat down for the conference. “I just talked to the students for two days, and in those two days they were able to make these films. Imagine what they can do in six months or in a year?” he said. Shilton took questions from the audience, answering them in detail. He said he had been greatly impressed by the students’ work over the past few days. “The thing that touched me was the innocence of the students here,” he said. “Your work should reflect your cultural heritage and norms of the place you represent,” he added.