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As a child, Butheina Kazim would pore over obscure independent films her father brought home from work trips to America.
Today, the Dubai resident brings art house films from around the world to the UAE as the founder of the region’s first independent cinema platform.
Showcasing directors and filmmakers across the decades, Cinema Akil aims to offer an alternative window into global stories that go beyond the Marvel universe.
Here, The National joins Ms Kazim as she prepares to host the 10th Reel Palestine film festival, which will run from January 26 to February 4.
When did you become interested in cinema and how did your passion become a full-time job?
I grew up around film because my dad was a cinephile. He used to work between Dubai and the US and he would bring back laser discs, which came before DVDs.
It was always a very eclectic collection including everything from Lawrence of Arabia to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre to FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and that became my film education.
As I got older, I became interested in the social dimension of what independent art house cinema represents and the historical, social and political impact that it has.
I was following that space slowly, and it struck me that we did not have a platform for regional films that placed them on equal footing as Euro-American-centric presentations of cinema.
I started hosting independently run community screenings through friends and partners, with about 14 seats in Al Quoz, even before a lot of the galleries were around.
I really felt that there was this craving from like-minded people in the creative industries who were coming together and trying to find each other.
A bricks-and-mortar component was something I really gravitated to, and that came years later when we opened our doors in Alserkal Avenue in 2018.
How has Dubai’s arts scene evolved in recent years?
When I first started throwing around the idea of having an art house, I was not sure the city would be ready, because it was not trying to speak to folks who were looking for inspiration and discourse outside of the creature comforts of life in Dubai.
In a way, we grew with the city. The spaces grew organically with the place, so we mirrored the new waves of immigration and people who were arriving and adapted to the yearning that emerged.
Now, in 2024, cinema at large is changing and there is a bigger shift in what we are watching and what is being made.
People around the world are seeking authenticity, closeness, truth, veracity, compassion and empathy in cinema.
What effect can cinema have on society as a whole?
I do not think it is a straightforward, direct relationship. I think it is an accrued soft, magical kind of power that lies in cinema.
It presents a universe that we can insert ourselves into. Some people call it escapism, some people call it seeking, some people call it surrender but, ultimately, you go into a film and specifically an independent film, and you walk out of it with a closer, deeper, empathetic understanding.
Whether you love the film or hate it, film shows you a very different kind of side of a story and a very personal side of the story and you cannot help but have this lasting relationship with whatever you have seen.
While it does not necessarily tell you the history of whatever country, the film tells you a really specific story that reveals a much larger universal understanding and that accrues in building world views and challenging narratives.
I think right now, as we witness the war on Gaza, we are seeing it play out on social media and in different types of material that is using moving images to challenge the status quo.
That becomes a very direct relationship because that is the news and cinema is part of that world and part of that universe.
We have seen how cinema can be “weaponised” throughout history, in fascist Germany and many other countries – that is not a secret. There is the beauty of cinema and there is the ugly side of it as well, and it can be used for both.
What is next for Cinema Akil?
We recently opened our seasonal location at 25hours Hotel Dubai One Central, which is free and open to the public. It mirrors the tone of the district and the hotel, and that is reflected in the programming.
We started as a nomadic cinema that relied on partnerships, and that gave birth to the physical box office cinema in Alserkal Avenue.
Today, we are in Saudi Arabia, Doha and Abu Dhabi, through partnerships that believe in cinema, as a community development.
January 26 marks the 10th anniversary of Reel Palestine film festival and we have a lot of talent and filmmakers coming in for that.
That is a very big start to the year and it always galvanises us and keeps us steady for the rest of our programming.
Reel Palestine runs from January 26 to February 4. More information is available at www.reelpalestine.org
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
THE LOWDOWN
Romeo Akbar Walter
Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.
Where to stay
The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Brief scores:
Day 1
Toss: India, chose to bat
India (1st innings): 215-2 (89 ov)
Agarwal 76, Pujara 68 not out; Cummins 2-40
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
The BIO:
He became the first Emirati to climb Mount Everest in 2011, from the south section in Nepal
He ascended Mount Everest the next year from the more treacherous north Tibetan side
By 2015, he had completed the Explorers Grand Slam
Last year, he conquered K2, the world’s second-highest mountain located on the Pakistan-Chinese border
He carries dried camel meat, dried dates and a wheat mixture for the final summit push
His new goal is to climb 14 peaks that are more than 8,000 metres above sea level
