1. 102|Harper’s BAZAAR|December 2013
tizianafabi/gettyimages.andrewh.walker/gettyimages.afp/gettyimages.rexfeatures
TALKINGPOINTThe
ew films win standing ovations, let alone one
10 minutes long, but at last year’s Venice Film
Festival, Wadjda by Haifaa Al Mansour broke
with convention. As well as being a poetic ode
to childhood dreams and determination,
Wadjda is the first feature-length film to come
out of Saudi Arabia, it’s the country’s first
ever submission to
the Academy Awards
(fingers crossed for March), and, most
pertinently, it’s directed by a woman.
Those who have an interest in international
film can attest that the latter is something
of a triumph for this region. While
the Middle East may have its own posse
of award-winning male filmmakers
(Mohammed Al Turki, Mustafa Abbas
and Ali Mustafa et al), there is a dearth of
female counterparts. Or so it seems.
Scratch a little below the surface, however,
and where there’s Haifaa, there’s a whole
collective of fellow Arab female filmmakers
just waiting to make their move and break
new ground.
From Egypt to Iran, Saudi to the
UAE, they are the new generation of
determined, responsive, educated and
talented women actively choosing to push
boundaries, challenge cultural stereotypes
and politely barge their way, all cameras
blazing, into the region’s cinematic circus.
To put this into context, Shivani Pandya,
managing director of DIFF, says there has
been “a dramatic increase in women
directors, especially in the Arab Film
sections; 174 films will be shown for 2013,
56 of these are directed by women.
Increasing year-on-year, the total number of
F
As DIFF rolls into Dubai, Emily Baxter looks at the new wave of Arab female
filmmakers turning the Middle Eastern film scene into an all-woman playground
WOMaN’S
WORLD
IT ’S A
women participating in DIFF has more than doubled since 2012.” In 2011,
the most prestigious prize at DIFF, the Muhr Arab Feature for Best Film,
was won by Palestinian director Susan Youssef for Habibi, and in 2012 by
Haifaa for Wadjda. If third time is indeed a charm, we’d welcome a hat trick.
The road to
recognition hasn’t been
straightforward. While
encountering common
restrictions inherent in
a fledgling film industry
(such as lack of
funding, infrastructure,
distribution issues and
production costs),
female filmmakers have
also done battle with
social stereotyping, age-
old cultural constraints
and a fear of the unknown. “My father used
to get letters from our extended family, his
friends, his colleagues and the Imam from
the mosque asking him to get me under
control and put a stop to my career as
a filmmaker,” explains Haifaa, who is
currently 22nd on Arabian Business’ The
500 Most Powerful Arabs in the World list
for 2013. “Luckily he was very proud and
never cared. I think a lot of women chose
not to pursue careers in the film industry
because of all the perceived challenges, but
I think [the industry] is ready for women
filmmakers who want to take risks and not
take no for an answer.”
Nayla Al Khaja, affectionately dubbed the
‘UAE’s first female director’ following her
2004 documentary Unveiling Dubai, agrees
that for women in film, the time is now.
“When I started out 10 years ago, my
the future
Going forwards, Torath’s
Ashlene says, “I feel
the more Arab women
who produce films and
present to festivals
around the Middle East,
the more inspired young
women filmmakers will
be to do the same.”
Local hero
Of her own film idols,
Haifaa says, “I am very
proud to be in the same
line of work as [Lebanese
director] Nadine Labaki
and [Palestinian director]
Annemarie Jacir.”
December 2013|Harper’s BAZAAR|103
On the set of
Lyrics Revolt
Team Torath: Ashlene
Ramadan, Melanie Fridgant,
Shannon Farhoud and Rana
Khaled
Top: Haifaa Al Mansour on set filming Wadjda.
Above: Wadjda’s official movie poster
“Ihope my film makes the medium
less threatening to people who think it is
evil or misleading, and I hope it gives
Saudis pride to see themselves and their
world represented on the big screen”
haifaa al mansour
Saudi Arabian filmmaker
Haifaa Al Mansour
➤

2. 104|Harper’s BAZAAR|December 2013 December 2013|Harper’s BAZAAR|105
TALKINGPOINTThe
family gave me an ultimatum of either family or film. I had to make
a choice,” she explains. “If I chose film, I would be cut out, and so I was
ostracised for three years. But now I’m back and everything is great. My
father even thinks my films are actually good,” she laughs. “But
I understand it. For them it’s like seeing the first woman driver in the UAE
twenty-plus years ago. It would have been strange then, but now that
attitude has shifted. We have to remember that the film industry here is at
its embryo stage, and there is still a lot of misconception about Arab
women in general. People see it like the repressed, poor woman who needs
help, but then they see something as dynamic as Wadjda coming out of
this region and it’s like ‘wow’. Suddenly we have a Saudi or UAE woman
making films that can travel internationally and make a real buzz.”
Shivani believes that, while women are on an even playing field with
men production-wise, the biggest challenge they face is the taboo and
association to cinema that exists here. “It’s becoming less and less, but
there has been a slight stigma that film is associated with a ‘typical’ kind
of person. However, that’s a huge educational process to teach family
and friends that film is simply another way of expressing yourself, like
music or art. It’s a very new industry here, but it’s actually taken much
less time [to develop] than internationally. Look at Cannes [Film
Festival], there are relatively fewer women filmmakers on the horizon,
but here there are lots.”
For Shannon Farhoud, co-founder of Doha-based Torath Production
(with Melanie Fridgant, Ashlene Ramadan and Rana Khaled Al Khatib) the
biggest challenge is “convincing people how serious and professional
women in the industry are. People tend to find women in film such a rarity
that they place them on a pedestal, just for being women, but forget that
they have created work equally as great as anyone else. People should forget
the name of the creators and just judge the work they are doing.”
Shivani points out, however, that the lower numbers of female
filmmakers from this region actually benefits those who are putting
themselves out there – as the focus is more concentrated. “It’s an industry
that women are very involved and active in now. Society here is
progressing and women are in leadership positions, with more women
willing to tell their stories, so it’s the opportunities and environment that
has changed. Even in media studies at colleges and universities, you’ll see
a higher percentage of courses and women there this year.”
Fazeelat Aslam, a New York-based Pakistani documentary filmmaker,
whose co-produced film Saving Face recently won two Emmys, as well as
the Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2012, understands the
challenges women in this industry face – both regionally and
internationally. “So many women discard the word feminist. They think
it’s a dirty word or something to be ashamed of,” she says. “But even if
the gap [in the industry] has closed, we aren’t living in a time where
women have equal rights – certainly not globally. I have worked with
men who, at the expense of our work, have dismissed women’s opinions
and limited their access. But women are breaking barriers every day and
covering topics that people thought and still think women can’t cover.
I recently saw Haifaa Al Mansour’s film, Wadjda. I still can’t believe she
was able to make it. It’s a stunning piece of work and she makes me
incredibly proud as a filmmaker and a woman.”
Perhaps in part emboldened by the Arab Spring, female filmmakers
are finding their voice and once taboo topics are now finding their way
onto screens, be it arranged marriages or child abuse, or the day-to-day
experiences of Middle Eastern women. “Sometimes women from
communities and nations that have less access and freedom than others
have further to reach, so they take bigger leaps,” explains Fazeelat. “The
risks are paying off, and they are reaping the rewards.”
Torath’s Melanie Fridgant sees women in the region as becoming more
affluent and taking more important roles within society. “The moment
is now because we finally have the power to compete and prove ourselves
at the same level as others. Showing a film about Qatar to a foreign
audience can change perceptions about the Middle East or highlight
what we have in common. We are proud to be part of a new movement
and while it is still difficult and we still struggle because of our age and
gender, chances are growing and we are hopeful for the future.”
The filmmakers all seem unanimous on one point: that the key to
progression is education. “Education, not just for film, but to empower
and be independent and really follow what you want,” explains Nayla,
who has three films showing at DIFF (The Neighbour, Three and Glimpse)
and also runs D-Seven production company, and the UAE’s first official
film club, Scene Club. “We have education access now, training on
the ground with more feature films coming from the region, and the
festivals. In the past, nothing existed.Today we have the Gulf Film Festival,
“Femalefilmmakershave waymore
confidencenowbecausethere’snotjustone
ofthem.It’sgoodtobe partofacrowd”
nayla al khaja
The Neighbour,
Nayla’s longest
film to date, is one
of the official film
selections at this
year’s DIFF
Above: Nayla and the
team behind Arabana,
2006, and Nayla on
set of the film
Emirati filmmaker,
Nayla Al Khaja
young stars
Of the new generation,
Nayla says, “I didn’t realise
I would come to a stage
where I would receive letters
from students saying how
my decisions had influenced
them to choose to study
film. Empowering young
women really excites me.”
DIFF, Doha Tribeca, and
they’re all places for women to
show their work.”
The recognition and
investments from awards such
as Arab Film Studio [AFS] and
Emirates Film Competition,
alongside specifically-curated youth festivals, such as Ajyal presented by
Doha Film Institute, also means that not only are female filmmakers
receiving the support they need from the industry alongside their male
counterparts, they can invest in their ideas and films and, in return, help
grow the industry everywhere. “The rest of the world is very curious about
how women live and work in our region,” Nayla adds. “Film is a great
medium to provide a window into this previously unknown world.”
Sara Saber, the 29-year-old Dubai-based Egyptian film director who
swept the AFS awards in July, winning four accolades for her film In Her
Eyes, plus a Dhs50,000 grant to fund her next film, agrees that the future
is bright because of the new wave of investment programmes, funding
initiatives and workshops put in place by the region’s festivals and
production companies to help the next generation of talent. “They
encourage and motivate women to implement their visions and speak
their minds, while providing them with a solid foundation to keep
moving forward. Arab women are stereotyped in some parts of the world
and it is about time to change and break the mould. It’s exciting.”
With London’s Birds Eye View film festival this March dedicated to
celebrating Arab women filmmakers and shining a timely spotlight on
the creative talents of regional filmmakers, and DIFF returning on
December 6, it seems that eyes the world over are trained on the Middle
East. For established artistes like Nayla, Haifaa and the Torath quartet,
it signifies the groundbreaking strides they’ve made in helping educate,
inform and promote the region’s film business. While for industry
newcomers such as Sara, it sets a precedent for what’s to come. It might
not be tomorrow or next week, because steady progress wins this race,
but the revolution is happening. As for March, the spotlight will be on
one woman in particular. And the Oscar goes to…
storyteller
“While I appreciate
awards and believe in
their merit, the biggest
reward for me is when
an audience can relate
to a story they felt was
foreign to them,”
explains Fazeelat of her
filmmaking process.
Above: Fazeelat
with the cast of
Tomorrow We
Disappear. Below:
On set filming
Pakistani filmmaker,
Fazeelat Aslam
■
“I’m proud to push
topics and subjects that
challenge social norms
and shine a light on
imbalances of all forms”
fazeelat aslam
melodiejeng/thenycstreets