Among the most significant outcomes of MIA are not only the projects presented during the event, but also the professional relationships that continue to generate new opportunities long after its conclusion. A notable example is the collaboration that emerged between Horia El Hadad, member of the MIA 2025 Selection Committee and commissioning editor at Al Jazeera Documentary, and director Ahmad Naboulsi, winner of the MIA Development Award with his project Edition ’96.
The meeting that took place during MIA has since evolved into a concrete professional journey: El Hadad later commissioned Naboulsi to create a documentary for Witness, Al Jazeera’s prestigious documentary series, further confirming the role of the market as a platform capable of fostering connections that continue well beyond the event itself.
The documentary, Lebanon: What Holds Us Together, tells the story of Angelina, a young volunteer from Tripoli who is dedicated to supporting people forced to leave southern Lebanon due to bombings. Through her perspective, the film offers an intimate portrait of the human impact of displacement, weaving the collective trauma of war with the challenges of everyday life.
The collaboration between El Hadad and Naboulsi is a concrete testament to MIA’s ability to foster connections between emerging talents and key figures in the international audiovisual industry, creating the conditions for ideas and projects to evolve into productions capable of reaching a global audience.
