Inspired by own experience

Emirati film student Ahmad Al Tunaiji’s initial idea for this short film sparked from his own personal childhood experience, where he bullied a mildly autistic classmate.

Al Tunaiji admitted to bullying his classmate along with a group of friends. He said it motivated others to bully him as well.

“After several years, ashamed of what I had done, I sincerely apologised and became one of his closest friends. After moving schools, I came across another student who was autistic, and having matured at that time, I realised that students easily take advantage of these kids because of how vulnerable they can appear to be,” Al Tunaiji said.

“Moreover, our schools did not offer any specialised person or department to help their needs. I decided to take on this personal story and develop it to a short film capstone project at my university.

“After several months of research, I came across interviewing my half-Emirati friend Majid, who spoke about a bullying experience he went through. It left me at the edge of my seat. He vividly described how his classmates approached him in his third grade with a sharp knife, cut his wrist and said “look at your blood you Filipino, it’s not pure’.”

The lead role (named Khalifa on screen) in the short film is played by 14-year-old Mohammed Al Hosani, an Emirati-Filipino in reality and on-screen.

Al Tunaiji said that Khalifa “speaks a story of thousands of people in the Emirates”.

“Majority of half Emiratis face some sort of bullying while growing up, particularly during their schooling years — whether it be physical, verbal or even cyber bullying. It is important to tell this story because it shows and proves how one can feel uncomfortable in their own house, country and even with who they are,” he said. sarwat@khaleejtimes.com