Life, death and mythological creatures that interrupt teenaged pearl diving adventures are three topics being tackled by Gulf filmmakers this year as part of the annual IWC Filmmaker Award.
Qatari director Hafiz Ali Ali and Emirati directors Nujoom Al Ganem and Abdullah Hassan Ahmad will go head to head for a $100,000 (Dh367,213) prize to help fund their feature-length scripts. The winner will be announced at a gala reception on December 8, during the Dubai International Film Festival. One of three films — Salem, Search for the Star Pearl and Sunrise — will receive $50,000 up front and another $50,000 at the beginning of principal photography.
NUJOOM AL GANEM - SALEM
In Salem, Al Ganem takes a look adoption in the UAE, especially as it pertains to the adoption of boys. She touches upon both social and religious aspects.
“Salem goes through a love relationship, but this obstacle, this problem comes in the way,” said Al Ganem.
Al Ganem, a poet, writer and filmmaker, is known for her character-driven documentaries such as Amal, Hamama and Nearby Sky, all of which have won prizes at Diff. But Salem presented a new challenge in that it was fiction writing. Canadian scriptwriter Anne Mackenzie helped polish the story, which had been in the works for seven years.
“In fact, I started the project with [Abu Dhabi production house] Image Nation,” said Al Ganem. “They were quite helpful and it started quite well, and then things didn’t work out. It needed time to come into shape. I believe creative writing needs its own time. It needs to breathe normally and organically.”
In the script, she shines a light on the younger generation who have their own dreams, and who take opportunities to study abroad, only to return home to the same realities.
“I’ve always worked on human stories. I’ve always been trying to dig deeper and deeper into the background of the people and into their own questions and their own world,” said Al Ganem.
“But you have to take into consideration that I’m tackling a fiction story. Here, it has its own world. Its own fabrication. It needs a structure, a different type of approach … From that technical perspective, it is more challenging. But I’ve been working on this for last seven years and I’ve written too many drafts. It’s ready to go out into the world.”
HAFIZ ALI ALI - THE SEARCH FOR THE STAR PEARL
Ali is trying to bring animation to the big screen in the UAE. Though animated children’s TV series are more commonplace in the region, feature-length works are rare.
“I’ve been working on The Search for the Star Pearl for the past five years in script development.
“It’s about a voyage that takes place in the early 1900s. A group of young teenagers find this map in the sea, regarding a mythological pearl that has special powers and belongs to [folklore character] Abu Darya. For them, it was a myth that they wanted to unravel,” said Ali.
The teenagers search for the pearl through Doha, the UAE, Oman, India and China and encounter obstacles — some in the form of mythological creatures. Though it’s an action-adventure film, it’s infused with funny moments and characters.
“Our young audience is lacking animation that tackles stories about this region, that talks about the heritage,” said Ali.
“It will be a great platform because the film will then be translated into other languages — it will be an opportunity for anyone in the East or West to explore the stories and connect to the characters. The film will be dubbed into English and Spanish.”
As of now, Ali is done with the character design and the script, on which he worked with two LA-based writers, including David Abromowitz. He hopes to finish the project within two years.
“It’s a journey that takes you take to a different world, a different environment. You’ll go onto the voyage with these young teenaged divers who take a risk because they believe in something,” he said.
ABDULLAH HASSAN AHMAD - SUNRISE
For Abdullah Hassan Ahmad, Sunrise has been a family affair, both on paper and off of it. The script started taking shape three years ago at the hand of his brother, Mohammad.
Similar to Ahmad’s previous movies, Sunrise was going to be a short film. But it’s not something he likes to draw attention to. Because now, the script is a different creature entirely, written by Yousuf Ebrahim and poised to be Ahmad’s first feature-length film.
“It’s about a family — a father, a mother and their son — and their three stories. They’re in a very Emirati environment, set during the day of the burial of martyrs,” said Ahmad.
In it, a father receives bad news about his son who is fighting a distant war, and struggles to share the information with his pregnant wife.
“I’m always at film festivals with my works and short films, since the early 2000s. And the artistic side of film, the award circuit, it’s important to me,” said Ahmad.
In 2013, he won the best film award as part of the Muhr Emirati category at Diff for Don’t Leave Me, a story about two girls — one losing her eyesight, one losing her memory — who share an unlikely connection.
“But when you’re working on a feature-length film [such as Sunrise], you have to capture two sides: a film that’s suitable for audiences, and a film that can be successful at the box office.”
If he can secure funding for the film, he plans to begin shooting in March in the UAE, and hopes to wrap filming within five months.
