Warehouse421 and Cinema Akil announce digital film programme
SHARJAH: Warehouse421, the home-grown arts and design centre dedicated to showcasing and nurturing creative production across the region located in Abu Dhabi, has announced the return of contemporary Arab film programme Blessed Be the Searchers: A Quest for Life Itself, in partnership with Cinema Akil, Dubai. It features a diverse set of films, starting on Feb. 24, with Amjad Abualala’s You Will Die At Twenty and Morad Mostafa’s Ward’s Henna Party. The programme will continue with Last Visit, a film by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan, and Clouds by Muzna Al Musafer on Mar. 10. On April 7, Sunday at Five by Sherif El Bendary and 200 Meters by Ameen Nayfeh ends the schedule.
Following a year lived in extremity, sparseness and excess, comes this programme to life: dancing, crying and rebelling, in stillness and noisily, not unlike life itself. You Will Die At Twenty (Feb. 24 – Mar. 2) tells the story of Muzamil. When he was born, a prophecy by the holy man of the village, predicts he will die when he is twenty years old. Muzamil’s father cannot bear the prediction and leaves home. Sakina, as a single mother, raises her son with over protection. One day Muzamil turns 19. At 19, having run out of his scheduled time, the biter realisation dawns on him: he cannot plan for a future he will never have. He cannot marry the girl he always loved, and who loves him back.
Ward’s Henna Party (Feb. 24 – Mar. 2) shows Halima, a Sudanese henna painter, living in Egypt. She goes to one of Giza’s local areas to prepare a bride for her wedding, and her seven year old daughter Ward accompanies her. The child starts to wander around to discover the surroundings.
In Last Visit (Mar. 10 – 16), during a trip with Waleed, his adolescent son, a middle-aged father, Nasser, receives news of his father’s serious illness. He turns in the direction of his rural hometown, south of Riyadh. The relationship between father and son changes when they arrive in this isolated town, as the disappearance of a child under unknown conditions is overshadowed by Nasser’s efforts to communicate with his introverted son, even if it means imposing his own will on him. Waleed rebels against this guardianship and rejects it, amidst the tense atmosphere of his dying grandfather in waiting. Clouds (Mar. 10 – 16) by Al Musafer, picturises the South of Oman where Dablan, a widower, lives with his daughter Salma and his son Amr, in a traditional village in the mountains. He faces pressure from his tribe to kill a leopard that has threatened the village — pressure that becomes greater when he decides to not kill the animal, but instead, to set it free.
Born in Madinat Sultan Qaboos in Muscat, Oman, Al Musafer’s admiration for images began at an early age through her father, who is a painter and photographer. Her first film Niqab won the student competition short at the Gulf Film Festival 2010. Her second short film Cholo, won Best Script at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival and had a special screening at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, Eye Museum in Amsterdam and the Institute de Monde Arabe in Paris, France.
She has served as jury member at the Saudi Film Festival and the Sultan Qaboos High Centre for Arts and Culture film competition. The MENA premiere of Clouds was originally slated for screening at the Red Sea International Film Festival in March 2020. In Sunday at Five (Apr. 7 – 13), selfishness makes Hadeel unstoppable – even if geting what she wants is at the expense of others. Conflating fact and fiction, this is a tale of mind games and manipulation.
200 Meters (Apr. 7 – 13) features Mustafa and his wife Salwa, who live 200 metres apart in villages separated by the wall. One day, he gets a call every parent dreads: his son has had an accident.
Rushing to cross the checkpoint, Mustafa is denied a crossing on a technicality. But a father’s love won’t give up and he will do everything to reach his son.
A 200 metre distance becomes a 200 kilometre odyssey as Mustafa, let with no choice, atempts to smuggle himself to the other side of the wall. The 2020 feature film premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival the same year, where it won the BNL People’s Choice Audience Award, as part of the Venice Days competition. It won the ICFT UNESCO Gandhi Medal at the 51st International Film Festival of India this year in January.
Each film screening will be followed by a live Q&A session with the film director for a virtual discussion. “Blessed be the searchers: the leopard hunters, the football champions, the artists, the lovers, and forever the dancers,” say the hosts. “Blessed be the searchers who come together to live.”
Warehouse421 supports emerging talent from the UAE, Middle East and South Asia, taking a collaborative approach to hosting and curating exhibitions, presenting local and regional research, and examining cultural practices. It also provides a wide range of learning opportunities for children, students, educators, artists and creative professionals. Founded in 2015, it is located in Mina Zayed, Abu Dhabi. Cinema Akil is an independent cinema plaform, bringing quality films from across the world, to audiences in the UAE.