1. Tuesday, June 16, 2015 www.thenational.ae
The National16
focus
S
a o u d A l m u l l a h a s
worked in higher educa-
tionformorethanadec-
ade, but has always had
a love for films. When choosing
his doctorate, it was only natural
he focused on UAE filmmaking,
historyandculturalidentity.
“A big part of it,” he says, “was
to do with documenting the his-
tory, and it was very challenging
because we don’t have many ref-
erenceshereintheUAE.”
“Everything you do is new. You
have to start from scratch. You
have to create the references
yourself.”
Fortunately, Masoud Al Ali,
cofounder of the Emirates Film
Competition, realised very ear-
ly on “how important it was to
document”. His archives proved
invaluable in Dr Almulla’s re-
search, which was completed in
2013.
Sitting in his office at the High-
er Colleges of Technology in Du-
bai,DrAlmullaspeaksaboutthe
originsoftheEmiratifilmindus-
try, although he concedes that
“industry” may be too strong a
term.
“I was very close to the people
who started this movement in
2002.Iknewthemall,”hesays.
Dr Almulla studied film and
television production at under-
graduate and postgraduate lev-
els and has worked in film. But
despite his personal interest, he
was always aware that “a PhD in
filmmaking in the UAE is not re-
ally something that people per-
ceivewell”.
“They get surprised. ‘Why are
you doing films? We don’t have
a film industry here’,” he says.
“But it’s not really about the film
industry. If you look at my PhD,
it’s mainly to do with cultural
identity:howistheUAE’sculture
andthenationalcharacterrepre-
sentedinthesefilms?”
He also analysed whether film-
making was seen as an appro-
priate form of expression for the
UAE.
Ingeneral,thepublicseescine-
maasaforeignmedium,“some-
one else’s”, because most films
they see come from Hollywood,
BollywoodandEgypt.
Filmmakers see it for what it is
– a platform for self-expression
throughwhichtheycanpromote
theircultureandsociety.
Dr Almulla’s doctorate focused
predominantly on short films in
the UAE, which today “partici-
pate in almost all the film festi-
valsintheworld”.
Despite such progress, howev-
er, the reality is that the Emirati
feature film, made for Emiratis,
is far from being commercially
viable. The country’s population
is less than 10 million, and Emi-
ratis constitute less than 15 per
centofthis.
As a rule of thumb, feature
films need to earn double their
budget at the box office to break
even.
This reality has pushed film-
makers to expand the scope of
their films, thus diluting certain
cultural aspects, to appeal to
both a domestic and interna-
tionalaudience.
“Looking at Sea Shadow and
CityofLife, they did not generate
any profits for the producers al-
though they were well received.
Many people watched the films
but still they did not make any
profit,”MrAlmullasays.
“So commercially they were
not feasible, and I think that
filmmakers and producers now
have to think about expanding
the range, perhaps to the Arabi-
an Gulf countries and the other
Arabcountriesaswell.”
Thiswillneeda“hugeandmas-
sive advertising machine”, just
like Hollywood’s. “Otherwise,
theywillnotsucceed.”
But if the future of Emirati cin-
ema means cultural and social
diversification, its past was very
much rooted in tradition. The
first Emirati filmmakers were
poets,saysDrAlmulla.
“You can tell from the style,
from the directing, the script
and the scenarios. It was all in-
fluenced by poetry,” he says. “I
thinkthedirectorsweretryingto
transform their art into a visual
art.”
By the millennium, within just
a generation, Emirati life had
grown entirely unrecognisable
and this was not lost on the pio-
neering poets-turned-filmmak-
ers.
“They were trying to reinforce
their identity,” says Dr Almulla.
“I guess it was a way of saying
‘This is the Emirati culture, this
iswhatitlookedlike’.”
Unlike poetry, visual forms
of expression were generally
speaking historically rejected by
the Islamic Arab World, adds Mr
Almulla. “No painting; no pho-
tography; no sculpting – none of
that.”
Not only was it impractical for
nomads to create visual arts
amid the harsh desert environ-
ment, but it was also taboo.
“Sculptures and paintings, and
depiction of people was associ-
ated with worshipping of idols,”
saysDrAlmulla.
It is only relatively recently
that such views have changed.
Sometime in the 1940s or 1950s,
he says, an Iraqi man arrived in
Sharjah with small, mysterious
boxes that would show moving
imageswhenwoundup.
“People protested,” says Mr Al-
mulla.
“They said this guy was show-
ing some sort of magic, so they
reported him to the Sheikh, and
theSheikhsaidhehadtoleave.”
In another incident, a famous
Ras Al Khaimah photographer
returned home to find his wife
had burnt all his negatives – be-
cause angels would not enter a
housecontainingimagesofpeo-
ple.
ThefirstcinemaintheUAEwas
the Royal Air Force Cinema, at
Al Mahatta, Sharjah – opened in
1948.
“It was mainly opened to enter-
tainthesoldiers:itwasn’tforthe
communityorthesociety.”
The cinemas that came later,
in the 60s, 70s and 80s, mainly
served the foreign residents of
theUAE.
“People didn’t even know what
a cinema was – I think it brought
surprise and shock to them
when they first saw the cinema.
Bear in mind, at the time they
didn’t even have a toilet,” he
says.
“I think every new technolo-
gy that came here created the
sameshock.Whenthefirstradio
came, people were surprised – ‘a
metal that can talk’: that’s what
theycalledit.”
Once Emiratis had learnt to
embrace Hollywood and Bolly-
wood, the Government realised
cinema was a viable investment
opportunity, and an outlet to
promotethecountry.
“They established ImageNa-
tion,asweallknow,andsudden-
ly we had three major film festi-
valsinthecountry.
“It’s not easy to create a film in-
dustry: it’s challenging, because
of the obvious competition
from Hollywood. It dominates
not only UAE cinema, but many
countriesaroundtheworld.”
Along with Hollywood and Bol-
lywood, Egypt has dominated
Arab television, says Dr Almul-
la. “Their dramas have been to
everyhouseintheGulf,soweare
familiar with their accents, their
culture,theirsociety.”
However, Egyptian cinema is
on the decline, and most pro-
ductionstendtobecommercial,
slapstick comedies with little ar-
tisticmerit,hesays.
The UAE’s culture, on the other
hand, has not had the same ex-
posure, and its intricacies could
be difficult for other nationali-
tiestograsp.DrAlmullabelieves
UAEcinemamustsucceedlocal-
ly first, for them to be exported.
“I think the way things are hap-
pening now – we have Image Na-
tion funding an Emirati film or
twoeveryyear–Ithinkit’sagood
thing.Theykeepexperimenting,
they keep producing films and
trying to screen them in the UAE
and in the Arabian Gulf states.”
Sea Shadow, for example, was
also released in Kuwait and Bah-
rain.
While the UAE’s investment in
Hollywood productions is pri-
marily financial in motive, he
sees it as an opportunity to help
localtalent.
“They expect a return on it, but
it’s also an opportunity to place
our Emirati directors there, ex-
pose them, help them gain ex-
perience from these massive
productions, and who knows?
At some point, maybe they will
have influence on these films as
co-producers.”
As well as the few large pro-
ductions, Emirati filmmakers
are also experimenting, with
some working on art house and
avant-garde productions. “How-
ever, we all know these kinds of
movies do not appeal to the au-
dience – you cannot produce an
artfilmandthenexpecttheaudi-
ence to understand it and come
and see it. I think that this is an
internationalthing,allthedirec-
torsintheworldknowthat.It’sa
limited audience: most likely a
festivalaudience.”
Personally, Dr Almulla believes
that film is an excellent form of
expression and a powerful tool
to promote the UAE’s cultural
identity.
Speaking of his favourite Emi-
rati films, he says: “I think one
of the great ones is Sabeel, by
Khalid Al Mahmood, and also
Bint Mariam, by Saeed Salmeen
AlMurry.Thesetwostandoutfor
me.”
Ironically, he does not go to
the cinema, because he prefers
international, non-commercial
films. “A good one is Turtles Can
Fly.It’ssetinKurdistan,innorth
Iraq.It’saveryinterestingfilmby
aKurdishdirector.Abrilliant,ex-
cellentfilm.”
Dr Almulla made a documen-
tarytoaccompanyhisdoctorate,
featuring behind-the-scenes
looks at filmmaking, and inter-
views with Emirati filmmakers,
festivalorganisersandofficials.
“There is a plan to try to re-ed-
it it, so it’s suitable for maybe a
film festival – and try to submit
ittoafilmfestivalinthefuture.”
ĝĝ halbustani@thenational.ae
Dr Saoud Almulla, director of the
Higher Colleges of Technology
in Dubai. Left, Emirati filmmaker
Ali F Mostafa, whose latest film
is The Worthy. Top, the sets of
2010 Emirati film Sea Shadow at
Sidrough area in Ras Al Khaimah,
and the Royal Air Force Cinema,
in Sharjah, the first cinema in
the UAE, opened in 1948. Jeffrey
E Biteng, Silvia Razgova / The
National; courtesy Dr Saoud
Almulla
Emiratifilms
throughthe
lensoftime
Itshistoryisshortand its audience small, so what is
the future for Emirati cinema? Can it be a commercial
success? Saoud Almulla has a doctorate in filmmaking
and some strong ideas, writesHarethAlBustani