My love of cinema began around the time Cool Runnings and Hocus Pocus came out in 1993. From action movies to animated Pixar creations, I could not get enough of film.
After a childhood spent overdosing on Hollywood productions, I spent most of my teenage years hiding out in small art house theatres in New York City.
From absurd Italian thrillers to Brazilian documentaries and small-budget American films, I would drag unsuspecting friends and family members to join me for hours of subtitles, slow paced story arcs or intensely experimental cinematography. Those “smaller” films allowed me to escape to a different world, all the while touching on simple human elements that I could more easily relate to than the onslaught of explosions and glitz that comes with the bigger movies.
While I’ve had the privilege to attend several film festivals in New York City, this year was the first time I have had the chance to go to the Abu Dhabi Film Festival. I’m happy to say that I had a great time. What really got me excited about ADFF in the first place was the opportunity to see the smaller “indie” films. Although we generally get a nice mix of releases from Bollywood, Europe and Hollywood, it is the smaller films that I truly miss.
There is still a lack of indie and art-house cinemas in this country, which to me is a true sign of a still-maturing film industry.
I’d love there to be cinemas that screen non-mainstream films, old classics or cult favourites. I felt a small tinge of nostalgia for having varied movie options over the summer when they were holding screenings on the promenade in front of the Galleria, and my family and I spent an evening singing along to Singin’ in the Rain.
At ADFF it was great to see so many Emirati films. From Super Lochal to From A to B, it is with a sense of pride that I got to watch movies made by talented Emiratis as well as people who come from different backgrounds but who call this country their home.
It was truly refreshing to see issues that are specific to the UAE, and to the region as a whole, being addressed through film. Most of what is available to us via popular culture comes from the West and while there is nothing wrong with that, we need to work to create a variety of nuanced Emirati, Arab and Muslim popular culture references too.
In addition to encouraging the growth of Emirati cinema to share a bit about our culture, heritage and traditions with the world, developing the Emirati film industry can also showcase the fact that we are much more than just the Arab stereotypes as portrayed by Hollywood movies.
We might want to tell stories that are specifically Emirati but we should not feel obligated to do so or restricted by it. I would love to see more Emirati science fiction or fantasy. We can (and should) tell stories just like anyone else, from everywhere else, so that people from all around the world can begin to relate to us and get beyond the orientalist images of old.
My experiences at ADFF made me realise that Abu Dhabi is not just supportive of the nascent film scene but also very encouraging of the whole creative process. Having called New York City my home for over a decade it always felt like all movies were set there. I’d have fun recognising streets and spotting my apartment as Spider-Man swung by.
With all the new projects that have been shooting in Abu Dhabi, I cannot wait to recognise locations in the new Fast and Furious film (and to a lesser degree recognise dunes and grains of sand in the new Star Wars movie). It is so lovely to know that Abu Dhabi has become a place that is welcoming to filmmakers and the industry as a whole.
Fatima Al Shamsi is an Emirati who recently returned from New York City after pursuing a master’s degree in Global Affairs at New York University
