Butheina Kazim says her hidden talent is doing a helium balloon voice singing Mohammed Abdu songs. Photo: Cinema Akil
Butheina Kazim says her hidden talent is doing a helium balloon voice singing Mohammed Abdu songs. Photo: Cinema Akil
Butheina Kazim says her hidden talent is doing a helium balloon voice singing Mohammed Abdu songs. Photo: Cinema Akil
Butheina Kazim says her hidden talent is doing a helium balloon voice singing Mohammed Abdu songs. Photo: Cinema Akil

One Last Thing: Butheina Kazim on hidden talents and the one thing she can't live without


Nasri Atallah
  • English
  • Arabic

Anyone with even a passing interest in independent cinema in the UAE knows the name Butheina Kazim. The Bahraini-Emirati entrepreneur is the founder of the first arthouse cinema in the region, Cinema Akil.

Originally a nomadic series of film nights across the country, since 2018 it has had a permanent home in a converted warehouse in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue, as well as a much more recent outpost at the 25hours Hotel Dubai One Central.

Kazim is part of the fabric of the Dubai – a fact cemented by her guest editorship of the first Louis Vuitton guide dedicated to the city in 2023. “My city is Dubai. And my life is cinema,” she told The National at the time.

What is your favourite time of day and why?

Sunset – the OG Lord’s filter and harbinger of the dark.

What is your favourite restaurant anywhere in the world?

The cafe in Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes.

When was the first time you realised your parents were human?

When I bled my mum with my pre-teen long nails and my dad cried at his mother’s deathbed.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Passport control officer at DXB airport.

Do you have any hidden talents?

I do an on-demand helium balloon voice singing Mohammed Abdu songs.

Your favourite book?

This is too agonising of a question. Though, I’ll never stop loving Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali.

What type of music can’t you stand?

Lazy use of onomatopoeia and unfinished lyrics.

What puts you in a bad mood?

Unsolicited advice.

What can you not live without?

Interesting people.

Dream dinner guests?

Stitch [from Lilo and Stitch], Gurgi [from The Black Cauldron], Batty [from Ferngully: The Last Rainforest] and all the Curious Oysters [from Alice in Wonderland].

Cinema Akil founder Butheina Kazim. Satish Kumar / The National
Cinema Akil founder Butheina Kazim. Satish Kumar / The National

Sitting on the sofa or out with friends?

Both in the same day, multiple times, at different times of day.

What smell takes you straight back to childhood?

Lily of the Valley and Mastik.

What food takes you back to childhood?

Cerelac and Rasgulla ... separately.

Which city do you love but would hate to live in?

I have two. Delhi and Amman.

Can you play a musical instrument?

No. Music was banned at our school after the principal became religiously conservative.

Have you ever been on a motorcycle?

Yes.

Any words to live by?

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live” - Joan Didion

Biggest pet peeve?

Nosiness.

Do you believe in aliens?

Yes, along with the djinns and warawaras.

What is your favourite Arabic word?

Ya’ni [editor’s note: hard to translate but used similarly to "like" in English]

Cinema Akil's location at 25 Hours Hotel Dubai One Central in Dubai. Photo: Cinema Akil
Cinema Akil's location at 25 Hours Hotel Dubai One Central in Dubai. Photo: Cinema Akil

The most niche thing you watch on YouTube?

Recently, how-to-videos on making organic pools in the English countryside by retired BBC videographer David Pagan Butler… and vintage Kuwaiti music videos.

How do you take your tea?

Fragrant, sweet, caffeinated.

What makes you cry?

Stagnancy, apathy, bad taste.

What do social algorithms think you’re interested in?

Chili oil, baby content and vinyls.

TikTok or Instagram?

TikTok is the city I love but can’t live in.

What is it about you that would surprise people?

My unrequited love of sardines.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

This morning, I used a Dyson Airwrap.

Mountain%20Boy
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'Ashkal'
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The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm

Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm

Transmission: 9-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh117,059

Where to buy art books in the UAE

There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.

In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show. 

In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.

In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.

David Haye record

Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4

MATCH INFO

Borussia Dortmund 0

Bayern Munich 1 (Kimmich 43')

Man of the match: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12

Transmission: Eight-speed automatic

Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm

Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km

Updated: November 01, 2024, 3:17 AM`