By Qudsiya Siddiqui

The Bahraini film industry

comprises of budding

independent film makers whose

films deals with realistic issues.

With the cinema slowly expanding

its foundation, there are more than

ten Bahraini films being showcased

at the 5th edition of the Gulf Film

Festival. Ammar Abdulla Al Kooheji is

the director of Sokoon; a film where

women are the central characters

living in a male-dominated society and

overcome their problems together.

The film showcases the basic

human rights which women

are deprived of. He says, “For

a woman, there is no question

about nationality or religion, each

woman should be respected.” When

questioned about the challenges

he faced in making the film, he said,

“There was no support from

Bahrain, I made the short-film

on my own personal finance, so

that was my biggest challenge.”

The new generation of storytellers

who with their talent and skills

used hands- on filmmaking, are two

young Bahraini women filmmakers

Noora Kamal and Aisha Almuqla.

They directed a 2.5 minute silent

film – ‘Movement [Ta7reek]’, where they experimented with

exaggerated comedy to showcase

how family and society controls

an individual’s decisions in life.

Noora Kamal says, “Being a

filmmaker in Bahrain is considered as a

hobby or just an activity, not accepted

as a career.” Presenter Aisha Almuqla

added, “With our movie we wanted to

show that one should be proud of their

culture, and be open-minded when it

comes to making decisions in life.”

With the lack of production

houses in the country, many Bahraini

filmmakers self-finance their projects.

Noora Kamal said, “We had immense

support from family and friends.

While one held lights, the other

a camera and helped us setup for

the film, all personally financed.”

The Bahraini filmmakers are

honored to be finalists to the

Gulf Shorts competition Film

Festival and making an excellent

platform to showcase their talent

and capability in producing films.

Day 03 - April 12, 2012

TOP

STO

RY Bahraini filmmakers hope to break stereotypes and raise awareness

GFF DAILY

“Nothing is eternal; everything ends” – Aisha AbdullahAisha Abdullah’s short film ‘Beginning. End’ focuses on the immortality of human life of

how there is a beginning and an end attached to it. The film is based on the life cycle

demonstrating the phase of childhood till death.

The suggestion for the film was provided by the scriptwriter, Ahmad Zain. Storytelling has

netted an impressive response so far, as it done through the usage of shadows. The story is

depicted with the help of strong shadows that were difficult to achieve in the cloudy days of

Abu Dhabi, where the film is shot.

According to Aisha Abdullah, “The message we’re trying to send out through this film is that

nothing is everlasting or eternal; everything has to end one day or the other. The example of

human life makes it easy to demonstrate how an existence is obliterated someday or the other.”

Aisha Abdullah is a passionate female filmmaker, who has won several awards such as first

prize in the shorts category of the Al Nawa Media Awards in the United Arab Emirates University

(UAEU).

Still from Movement (Ta7reek), a 2.5 minute silent film which experiments with exaggerated comedy to showcase how family and society controls an individual’s decisions.

Aisha Abdulla, director of ‘beginning. End’ - Gulf Shorts FeaturesPhotocredits: Lizelle Rodrigues

ORGANIZER: MEDIA PARTNER:

Parveen Aman, Actress of SokoonPhotocredits: Hileri Bilakhia Click here to meet the filmmakers

Qatari cinema: opportunities and possibilitiesBy Syeda Nawab Fathima

Qatar is a land known little for its

films. But judging by the young

Qatari filmmakers at GFF, this is soon

to change...

Suzannah Mirghani, a filmmaker

from Qatar is showcasing her

first movie called Hamour at the

festival. “It has been a wonderful

experience. I had the opportunity

not only showcase my movie

but interact with film-makers

from various regions.” she says.

Hamour tells the story of Indian

fishermen in Qatar, as expatriates’

form an integral part of the region.

Qatari cinema has grown in the past

few years and Suzannah credits this to

the Doha Film School for inculcating

a professional attitude towards

filmmaking.

Rezwan Al-Islam, an upcoming

filmmaker says that making films is all

about the script and your eagerness

to explore the possibilities. “As a

filmmaker you will always have

challenges. Shooting in the summer

heat is not easy but we manage

our time and still do it. We must

overcome these challenges or we will

lose the opportunity.”

Rezwan and his classmate started

their movie, A Falcon, A revolution as

a class assignment and entered the

festival, after hearing rave reviews

from those who saw their work.

Both filmmakers feel GFF is

essential for serving as a platform

to showcase the unique movies of

young and upcoming filmmakers.

“There are very few filmmakers

who would make films not of popular

demand but push the boundaries for

more serious cinema. The best thing

about GFF is the variety of movies.

We have Indie movies rather than the

popular blockbusters,” says Rezwan.

Creative management in the film businessBy Nazia Fatma

Angus Finney, established businessman in the

London media markey conducted a workshop

on creative management in film business on

yesterday, 12 April.

According to Finney, “Creative people should

be treated way beyond the monetary and the

commercial goals of any media industry”. He

mentioned that writers, directors, and producers

can be a source of creative people with each

industry having their own source of creativity.

Factors like ownership, responsibility, recognition

and the organizational structure attract creative

people.

The management can encourage creativity by

rewarding and requesting creativity. The structure

of the organization is also very important because

if you get it right, you will get new talent and loyalty

Pixar, the animation firm is a true example of this.

From the producer’s point of view, the individual

must be good at creating and maintaining

relations, protecting the talent and being a buffer

with finances and creative elements. Due to the

evolving online market, the distributors will be up

for a challenge as it will cause the decline of the

TV and the DVD market. This will change the way

the movies are financed. Creative management is

essential to the film business and the success of

any movie.

WORKSHOPS

WHAT’S NEXT?

Publication by the Media and Communcations Department, Manipal University DubaiExecutive Editors: Mr. Joseph John, Mr. Sabir Haque Technical In-Charge: Mr.Sambhram Pattanayak Managing Editor: Ms. Megna Kalvani

Proofreader: Rabab Kazi Production Designer: Sneha Wadhwani

ONE-ON-ONE

Angus Finney highlights the element of business in entertainment

Photocredits: Arathi Devadas

Filmmakers hope to propel local art scene with ‘Glitter dust’By Samiha Naaz and Christine Cherian

Katy Chang and J.R Osborn, director and

producer of ‘Glitter Dust: Finding Art in

Dubai’ respectively share their experiences

on the set of their feature–length

documentary based in Dubai.

1.Your previous film ‘Nanjing Road’ was

based in Shanghai. How was the journey

from Shanghai to Dubai in terms of shooting

Glitter Dust?

Katy Chang: The journey from Shanghai

to Dubai has been great! Dubai has helped

us cultivate a lot of relationships while

shooting the film. We had a lot of University

students interning and assisting us during

our shoot. In fact, everyone was surprised

how our film was an independent film. We

actually started filming the second day after

we landed and it was a great experience. We

learnt everything about the city in a week.

J.R Osborn: I had been studying in the

Middle East, Yemen and Jordan, but had

never been to Dubai. When I did come here,

I started off as a professor at the American

University of Dubai. We noticed there were

no stories about the art scene in Dubai, about

the culture. We felt that it was important

to capture the essence of art in Dubai.

2.Did you face any difficulty while filming

in Dubai?

J.O: The only difficulty we did face

were the sandstorms, other than

that everything went smoothly.

3.What triggered you to make this film?

KC: As the art scene in Dubai was not given

much focus , through this feature – length

documentary, we tried to bring out the art

and culture of the Dubai. This is for all those

art lovers out there, as well as for everyone

else. There was no script as such for this

movie. It was their own voice and story.

4.Your interest lies in filming food. Are you

an avid cook too?

KC: Yes! I love filming food. Cooking is

something I’m passionate about and enjoy it. The

fresh spices and different types of cuisine that I

try out, the whole feel of cooking is just great!

5.Do you plan on expanding your

production studio?

KC: Yes, definitely we are planning to

expand. We are looking out for gallery space,

as well as planning on having a kitchen.

It is going to be more on a creative base.

6.What is your next project about?

KC: My upcoming project is based on food. The

project’s name is ‘Baba – Cooks’. It’s more on the

personal level, since it is based on my father and

how he survived the Great Chinese Famine, and

overcame all the difficulties to become a chef.

7.What advice can you offer budding

filmmakers, especially students in the region?

KC: There is a definite scope for the students to

explore and make new movies. They need to look

at things differently and tell a story through that.

April 13, 2012

14:00-15:00Meet the Filmmakers: Int’l Competition (Majlis room)

14:30-16:38Gerard Courant: Cinem-aton #3(Grand Festival Cinemas)

23:55-02:00Gulf Nights Forum: Be-hind the Scenes(Filmmakers Lounge)

April 14, 2012

11:00-12:00Meet the Filmmakers: UAE (non-student)(Majlis room)

13:15-14:15Meet the Filmmakers: Oman & Yemen(Majlis room)

Filmmaker Katy Chang talks about her feature film “Gliter-Dust” Photocredit: Luvlyn Prem Ratnam

Producer J.R Osborn during a question and answer session

Catch the film screening today in Grand cinemas #10 @ 21:30-22:30