Algerian filmmaker happy at winning Golden Khanjar
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Algerian filmmaker Yasmine Shuwaikh expressed delight at winning the Golden Khanjar at the Muscat International Film Festival (MIFF) for her movie “Until the end of time.”
She won the award under the voices of the world feature films category. Moreover, her movie will also feature at the Dubai film festival later this year.
Shuwaikh said she was especially happy that her first feature film had won the prestigious prize.
“This was my first feature film. It was like my first child. I hope to make other movies like this but the first movie was special. A lot of hard work went into it and it has paid off,” she said.
Shuwaikh added: “I’m so happy that I finally made this movie. I’m also happy that people watched it and it enabled me to travel to Muscat and discover this country, its culture and its movies. I saw some of the Omani short movies and they were great.”
“There were so many great directors in this competition and it was great being among them. I’m happy to have won but I’m happier to just be here,” she added.
The young filmmaker said she wanted to strike an emotional chord with her audience and hoped she had succeeded in doing so. “You’ll have to ask the jury as to why they chose me for the honour, but I hope it’s because the movie touched them. Hopefully, they connected with the story, especially my vision of the story,” she said.
Shuwaikh remarked that she had enjoyed the movies screened at MIFF.
“They had a great selection of movies. I saw a lot of good movies at the competition, features and short films alike. The most important thing at a film festival is appreciation of cinema and to watch great movies and that’s what we did,” she added.
Shuwaikh said that it was her first time in Muscat, adding that she had found Oman to be a beautiful country.