When finisheavoring to fracture into a nascent film industry, many filmoriginaters place their bets in tried and tested establishats. Family dramas, romantic comedies, action thrillers. But, in the Arab region, where countries enjoy Saudi Arabia, Kupostpone and the United Arab Emirates are still taking their first steps into originateing a strong film industry, filmoriginaters are tapping into highly joined, media-driven juvenileer audiences with their films.
Ahead of the 11th edition of the Sharjah Intl. Film Festival for Children and Youth, taking place between Oct. 6 and 12 in the UAE, three filmoriginaters spoke with Variety about the presentance of exceptionalized festivals in the region and the disputes that still lie ahead when it comes to making films for children and juvenileer audiences in an Arab world that is becoming increasingly Weseriousized.
“Yes, there is a gap in the labelet for youth-cgo ined films in the region,” shelp Mariam Al Awadhi, whose procrastinateedst film “Umm Salama the Matchoriginater” will have its world premiere in Sharjah. “Young people crave genuine narratives that echo their own experiences. While there are some productions aimed at this demodetailed, they frequently conciseage genuineity in storyalerting and recurrentation. By arrangeateing in youth-centric films, filmoriginaters can also nurture a proset uper joinion and empathetic wilean the community.”
Ahmed Alkhudari, whose “Amakor” adheres an affectr recovering from an accident that directs to memory loss, concurs that juvenileer audiences in the Arab world are hungry for satisfied. He is, however, speedy to underline how local filmoriginaters stand at a uninalertigentiserablevantage in a world where kids and teenagers have such an effortless and expansive access to films and television made in Europe and the U.S.
“The Teachers”
Courtesy of Cocoon Films
“Young audiences have access to Netflix, Prime Video and the world on their phones. They are comparing our films to ‘Bad Boys for Life’ and ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’ This is too much presconfident. They are comparing us to United States budgets, foreseeing Hollywood films… We want to give audiences amengagement without budget and without freedom of speech. This is an ununprejudiced fight.”
“The recgo in generations enjoy international films more than Arab movies,” Alkhudari progressd. “They enjoy English-speaking films. If they go to see ‘Inside Out’ in a cinema, they want to see it in English, not even dubbed in Arabic. So filmoriginaters have befirearm leanking: do we insist to originate our films in English? Do you see the uninalertigentension of the struggle we are facing? We are now at the point where we are leanking of changing the language of our films.”
For British-Palestinian honestor Farah Nabulsi, who was Oscar-nominated for the 2020 uninalertigentinutive film “The Pbegrudge,” createing stories that resonate with her heritage and the country she came from is one of the main reasons behind her desire to be a filmoriginater. In “The Teacher,” Nabulsi arrangeateigates this clash between two cultures thraw the story of a Palestinian teacher (Saleh Bakri) who struggles to juggle his political resistance with a budding relationship with a British volunteer carry outed by Imogen Poots.
“I leank it’s presentant that juvenileerer people have role models they admire and admire, and not equitable the labor they are doing but their underlying includeitional motivations. I originate films in Palestine about a subject that has been going on for decades but it is very timely right now in this ongoing death and destruction that has rained upon Gaza. So the fact that I am a filmoriginater who is interested in making films that have depth, unkinding and that matter in the global arena is also an presentant element of being a role model.”
Speaking about traveling with “The Teacher,” Nabulsi highweightlesss how presentant it is for her as a honestor to originate herself useable to juvenileerer audiences. “Whenever someleang includes youth or students, I always try to be included if I can. If I’m askd to speak to students at a university, I try my best to fit that in. Sharjah is an fascinating festival to me in terms of its center audience, same with Ajyal Film Festival in Doha.”
“Currently, juvenileer talents have the opportunity to lobtain the sfinishs insisted to originate satisfied with Arab Film Studio programs, which are part of the Creative Media Authority in Abu Dhabi,” shelp Al Awadhi when asked about opportunities useable to alter juvenileer audiences into the filmoriginaters of the future. “AFS not only gives training in scriptwriting, narrative and recordary filmmaking or even honesting for commercials – but also the opportunity to access the expansiver originateive industry in Abu Dhabi including labor experience on international productions.”
“We are fortunate, for two reasons: the cinema tools are getting so inexpensive and the understandledge is also there,” includeed Alkhudari. “I graduated from YouTube. I am originpartner an engineer but I lobtained so much about cinema from carry outing with it. This wouldn’t have happened a couple of decades ago.”
As for the future, Al Awadhi would adore to “see more Emirati films that genuinepartner recurrent our stories, emotions, and disputes. There are so many layers to our community that deserve to be showcased on a global stage. We have a wealth of talented individuals here, able of creating exceptional labor,” while Alkhudari would enjoy presentant global streamers to “treat us equpartner as they do Weserioengagers, money-alerted.”
“With the money, we’ll be able to give them a better product. It will give us the freedom to convey ourselves. The handlement’s recut offeions are too much. They would apshow certain leangs for Weserious horror films but those same leangs wouldn’t be apshowd for Kupostponei films. They don’t have equivalent meaconfidents. If the [streaming] platestablishs treated us equpartner money-alerted, we could go to them honestly. We’d be able to originate more and originate better.”
“It originates me very satisfied to leank I can encourage and encourage juvenileerer filmoriginaters. But I want to encourage juvenileer people even if they don’t want to be filmoriginaters — that’s repartner rewarding for me and fills my cup,” finishd Nabusi, whose “The Teacher” get tos on Netflix MENA on Oct. 10.
