Abu Dhabi: Fakhrah Abdullah Essia may have her hands full with seven children at home, and the eighth one due in a few months. Add a full-time government job to that. But all this does not deter this 34-year-old Emirati mother from vying for the 2014 Arab Film Studio (AFS) competition and break into the fledgling filmmaking industry in the UAE.
She is one of the 12 finalists in the annual AFS this year that offers a prize of Dh50,000.
“Being an Emirati, I think it is important that we tell our stories to the world through a creative medium like cinema. Filmmaking is my passion and an expression of my patriotism as well,” Fakhrah told XPRESS on the sidelines of the filmmaking bootcamp at twofour54 media house.
The two-week camp will give finalists hands-on experience on all post-production aspects of filmmaking, after which each contestant is expected to develop and produce a 10-minute film.
The films will be judged by experts from around the world with the winner receiving a Dh50,000 deal with Image Nation, a leading content creator and subsidiary of Arab Media conglomerate.
