AlUla Creates, the female-only initiative dedicated to nurturing Saudi filmmakers and fashion designers, recently showcased the results of its first cohort at the Red Sea International Film Festival.
It is funded by Film AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla's film agency, and is one of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiatives. Dozens applied to take part in the inaugural programme with a handful selected and paired with mentors led by Haifaa Al Mansour (The Perfect Candidate, Wadjda), James Richardson and Jane Moore of Vertigo Films and Roua Almadani of Film AlUla.
Three shorts were created, all of which were screened at the festival in Jeddah. These include Malika, When the Shelves Hymn and the animation A Mosquito.
“We're very excited to be completing the first cycle of AlUla Creates,” said Mahsa Motamedi, marketing director of Film AlUla. “We’re here to nurture and celebrate creativity and empower women in this in this region. I think we've been successful at that by showing how the participants made these short films and we're showing it on an international platform.”
One of the short films, Malika, even competed at the festival. Directed by Maram Taibah, the film takes cues from Alice in Wonderland and Arabian Nights. It tells the story of Salma, a girl who sets out to find her grandmother’s lost crown so that she will be healthy again.
The programme, Taibah said, helped develop the film from as early as the scriptwriting stage. “There were drafts going back and forth with really valuable feedback that helped us to shape our script,” she said, describing how mentors were present at “every stage” of the film to offer guidance.
“I was directing a little girl,” she said. “In some ways, I felt a little bit challenged to get her to be more spontaneous, to get her to give a specific kind of performance. Haifa came to set, and I sat with her and asked her how she recommended I handle the scene. She was very instrumental in what I learned.”
The mentorship programme was also vital in the pre-preparation phase, Farah Jouni, producer of Malika, said. “They gave us a lot of a lot of notes, especially on the budget, on the schedule,” she said. “They were visiting us on set, making sure that everything was fine and everything was on track.”
AlUla Creates was also essential in helping the Malika team develop the visual character and costumes of the film, namely by connecting them to Atelier Hekayat, a fashion house founded by Alia and Abeer Oraif, who were also selected as part of AlUla Creates.
The sisters, along with Arwa Al Ammari of the ArAm label, were the talents selected to take part in the fashion aspect of AlUla Creates. The designers were mentored by Emilia Wickstead, one of the regular dressmakers for Kate, Princess of Wales. As part of AlUla Creates, the designers dressed supermodels Helena Christensen and Eva Herzigova at the Oscar’s Vanity Fair after-party.
While Atelier Hekayat has had years of experience within the fashion industry, AlUla Creates helped them explore a new niche, designing for film, said Alia. “We read the script and we lived it so that we can make designs for it,” she said. “We wanted to communicate the vision of the film. It was extremely exciting.”
Among the most memorable and challenging designs that Atelier Hekayat created for Malika was a handbag that was supposed to fit a sword. “The script said that the character puts a sword in the handbag, Alia added. "How were we supposed to accommodate that? We finally thought of having a zipper at the bottom of the bag so that the sword can pass through."
Al Ammari, who designed the clothes for When the Shelves Hymn, said her experience was also similar, making her think of design in a whole new way. “This was our first experience in creating fashion for a film,” she said. “We took a different path than what we usually do. We had to read the script and understand what they were trying to convey. Clothes can convey feelings.”
As a major part of When the Shelves Hymn, directed by Hanaa Saleh Alfassi, takes place in an antique shop in AlUla, Al Ammari said she wanted to stay true to the visual language of the film. “It had to give this vibe of the authenticity of Saudi Arabia in a historical sense," she added. "For instance, the thawb we designed was inspired by the Saudi thawb, but so was the dagla. We mixed the both and created a hybrid.”
Being an animation, the process for A Mosquito was quite different to the other short films. The film is set in AlUla in 1969 and follows a small mosquito named Zozo that yearns to become a singer and, as the premise reads, “as famous as Umm Kulthum".
The film, directed by sisters Dana and Raneem Almohandes, initially began as a two-minute university project before being picked up by AlUla Creates. “They helped us to develop to seven minutes in terms of story and the characters,” Dana said. “We developed more with the feedback and notes.”
The sisters went to AlUla to draw inspiration from the landscape for their film. “We were so lucky to be in the space,” Raneem added. “It was our third time there, but this time was different. We were thinking about the story while being there, and we actually filmed videos that we animated later on.”
The sisters focused on aspects of the landscape by thinking from the perspective of a mosquito. “We were filming the tiny flowers, everything that is so small to include in the film, because it's Zozo's perspective," she added. "Even during the helicopter ride, we thought this was a bit of what she sees.”
All three films have secured distribution deals, meaning they will soon be accessible to a larger audience. “It is very exciting because that's the idea of AlUla Creates,” said Motamedi. “At the end of the day, the distribution is very important.”
She revealed lessons were learnt from the first batch of AlUla Creates. Subsequent iterations, she said, will focus on fashion designers working on costume design, as opposed to offering a wider fashion platform.
“We started off, and I think the fashion side was the first bit that we launched, and then we got the film submissions done," she added. "So we did it backwards. Now we’re in a better position because we know what worked and what didn't work to concentrate on what we do best, which is filmmaking and costume design.”
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
• Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.
• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft Toronto
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: Playstation 4, Xbox One, Windows
Release Date: April 10
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Company%20Profile
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
2020 Oscars winners: in numbers
- Parasite – 4
- 1917– 3
- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
- Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood – 2
- American Factory – 1
- Bombshell – 1
- Hair Love – 1
- Jojo Rabbit – 1
- Judy – 1
- Little Women – 1
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) – 1
- Marriage Story – 1
- Rocketman – 1
- The Neighbors' Window – 1
- Toy Story 4 – 1
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
