An Arabic-language adaptation of Campeones, a 2018 Spanish comedy-drama film, is scheduled to hit cinemas later this year.
Its Oscar-winning producer Andres Vicente Gomez hopes the 90-minute Saudi remake, called Champions, will impact Arab audiences and transform the lives of people with physical disabilities.
Champions stars Yassir Al Saggaf, Fatima Al Banawi and Khaled Al Harbi, alongside real people with special needs cast from the Help Centre in Jeddah, a non-profit organisation for people with disabilities.
The film, which was shot in Saudi Arabia, tells the story of a football coach who gets expelled for a fight during a game that goes viral and as a result he is sentenced to community service which involves him coaching a team of people with disabilities.
In a surprising turn of events, the coach finds himself in an extraordinary journey of learning, one he wasn’t ready for.
This isn't the first time producer and director Gomez has worked on a Saudi film. He was the co-producer of the 2019 historical drama film, Born A King, based on the formation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"Having done Born A King, this was easy to handle. I went from a $18 million film to a $3 million one. But money is not always everything. I had the same satisfaction doing both," Gomez tells The National.
The Spanish director wants to redefine the way Arab culture is perceived and the way movies are made in the Kingdom.
"Movies as we understand them are entertainment and culture. Having made over 130 feature films in Europe, and shooting all over the world, I was intrigued about the Middle East, especially the GCC countries, their culture and their movie market," he says. "I went to Saudi Arabia with the intention to shoot an Arab content animated movie... but I had the opportunity of making good friends and discovering a country with enthusiastic youth that was interested on social media, digital ways of communicating, who are sensitive and very advanced culturally.
"I then thought that it was the right fit to develop a number of projects, different to the ones I was used to and what I was starting to get bored with," Gomez adds.
Soon after, he was commissioned to produce a stage musical The Last Horseman for Madrid and London. He then went on to produce a number of English TV series for Saudi TV before Born A King came his way in 2017.
Even though Gomez has wrapped up Champions, he says he is currently working on 10 other projects in Saudi Arabia that include feature films, television series and different audio-visual events.
“Arab audiences need their history, past and present being told through films. Movies to watch in cinemas and television," he says.
For Gomez, Champions was a reminder that winning is not the most important thing in life.
"Champions touched the sensibility and the conscience of a large of public that discovered the so called special needs person in a different dimension, capable of showing us a different way to understand and how to treat them. It was a fun movie, a serious comedy."
Creating the soundtrack
In Champions, music plays an instrumental part in shaping the narrative and spirit of the movie.
To create a soundtrack for an epic blockbuster was a challenge, one Hasan Hatrash had to accomplish within a week. He was the producer, singer and songwriter for the theme song Life Rotates.
"The producer told me that I had a week at most to write and record a theme song that has to be modern, happy and of course had Arabic lyrics," Hatrash tells The National.
“It was such a tough challenge especially that I was consumed with other work, but this one was too tempting to let go. Knowing Andres and his portfolio, gave me a boost in confidence and enthusiasm to overcome my worries to come up with a song worthy of being part of the film.
“It's amazing to be among the first people to leave a footprint in this huge emerging film industry in Saudi Arabia.”
Knowing that the actors were actual heroes with special needs fuelled my lyrical inspiration, and the main idea came in a flash
Speaking about the music-making process, he says he first watched the Spanish version to "get the general vibe".
"I had an idea then on the general sound and feel of the song, but the challenge remained with the Arabic lyrics. As a songwriter, I’ve written many English songs but that was my first Arabic attempt," he recalls.
“My goal was to keep it simple. I came up with a basic looping catchy progression and started layering instruments in my small studio. Due to time restrictions I had to play all the instruments during recording. Coming from a rock background I turned towards a pop rock sound with bass sections in the background, which was a new experience for me. It really helped me expand my musical experimentation and took me to new regions.”
After writing and recording the melody in two days, he went on to write the lyrics.
“Knowing that the actors were actual heroes with special needs fuelled my lyrical inspiration, and the main idea came in a flash," he says.
“Life rotates was the first Arabic sentence that struck my mind and it came from the general idea of the movie, which talks about determination, positivity and innocence in a very raw or humane way. The rest came naturally."
Shortly after submitting the song, not only was it approved but Hatrash was contacted again by Andres with big news.
“He said that they wanted to use my song again for the end credits, substituting a song by legendary rock band Queen. But they needed all the actors with special needs to sing along with the chorus of the song. “I thought that was the biggest compliment any artist could achieve, I accepted immediately," he says.
Hatrash booked a bigger studio, gathered the main actors and started rehearsing.
“It was quite a challenge to deal with heroes with special needs especially with some speech impairments, but they were all excited and worked their very best. We spent over six hours in the studio to get the best outcome we could from every one of the actors and the results were amazing.
“It was one of the most amazing times of my life," Hatrash adds. "Seeing the joy and happiness of the actors and hearing them humming the songs as they were leaving the studio, filled my heart with happiness. It was the best payback.”
Champions is slated for release in September this year.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJune%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Alnamara%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMicrofinance%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E16%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFamily%20offices%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The Greatest Royal Rumble card
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight ChampionshipAJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Rusev
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v Kalisto
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
More coverage from the Future Forum
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Naga
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Selected fixtures
All times UAE
Wednesday
Poland v Portugal 10.45pm
Russia v Sweden 10.45pm
Friday
Belgium v Switzerland 10.45pm
Croatia v England 10.45pm
Saturday
Netherlands v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Denmark 10.45pm
Sunday
Poland v Italy 10.45pm
Monday
Spain v England 10.45pm
Tuesday
France v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Wales 10.45pm
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg
Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
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EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
The%C2%A0specs%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
