Mermaid floating on air

Director from Saudi Arabia surprised her film was a winner.

Shahad Ameen, left, is presented with her award for winning the short narrative in the Emirates Film Competition. Mona Al-Marzooqi/ The National

ABU DHABI // Saudi director Shahad Ameen took home the top prize for short narrative in the Emirates Film Competition last night for her film about a girl living in a coastal Arabian village.

The reaction to Eye & Mermaid, a 14-minute Arabic-language film telling the story of a 10-year-old girl named Hanan, surprised Ameen.

“My film is a magical-realist film, so I never thought it would get around in the Gulf region, but it did and people actually accepted it,” said Ameen.

Thomas Hines, cinematographer for Eye & Mermaid, won the prize for best cinematography for its stunning imagery, precise composition and excellent use of natural light that showed "beautifully constructed pictures of the world through a little girl's eyes", the judges said.

Nayla Al Khaja won the prize for best Emirati film for The Neighbour, about a British woman who moves to Dubai following a tragedy and the elderly Emirati neighbour she meets.

Emirati Abdullah Al Kaabi's film Koshk won second prize in the short narrative competition.

Koshk made the best out of limited resources, said Al Kaabi. He also won best producer from the Arab world in the International Short Film Competition.

Moroccan Kamal Lazraq won best short narrative in the International Shorts Competition for The Man With a Dog, about an outcast named Youssef and his journey through Casablanca's slums to find his dog.

Father by Lotfi Achour, an actor and filmmaker based in Paris and Tunis, was deemed best film from the Arab world in the international competition.

In the Emirates Film Competition, Alya Al Shamsi's Shattered won first prize for student short narrative, while Hassan Kiyani won first prize for his short documentary, Marwan the Boxer, and Sheren Abououf took home the top prize for Ice Flower in the student short documentary competition. Muzna Al Musafer's Cholo won best script.

Directors Melissa Johnson and Robertino Zambrano won the award for best documentary for Love in the Time of March Madness in the international competition.