A short film by Emirati filmmaker Sheikha Alyazia bint Nahyan has garnered considerable attention at film festivals around the world, receiving two awards and a handful of accreditation badges.
Entitled Athel, the film tells the story of a TV presenter, Salma, who films a poetry show about the pre-Islamic poet Tarafa. A sandstorm disrupts the shoot and sends Salma to a surrealist landscape.
The film locally premiered at Nation Towers in Abu Dhabi on Monday, August 31. It was produced by Toaster Productions and Anasy Media. The film's cast include renowned Egyptian actress Hala Shiha, who previously starred in the 2006 romantic-comedy Kamel El-Awsaf, and Emirati artist Mansour Alfeeli.
Athel recently received the Outstanding Achievement Certificate at the Berlin Flash Film Festival, a monthly online festival that celebrates short films and scripts, giving the filmmakers a creative platform to voice their art. Al Nahyan's film also won the Gold Remy Award at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in the US.
It was also officially selected at five international festivals, including the Madrid International Film Festival in Spain; the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TNIFF), where the film received an award nomination; and festivals in Vienna and Amsterdam.
The film, much like Sheikha Alyazia’s works as an artist, reflects her love of connecting culture with history, which is a key theme in her work.
Sheikha Alyazia had her first ever solo exhibition in the UK in June 2019, showing a collection of 23 of her artworks at the Pi Artworks in London's Fitzrovia. The exhibition, dubbed I Met a Traveller from an Antique Land, took its name from a line from Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley's 1818 work Ozymandias.
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
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