Support call for amateur film-makers

AWARD-WINNING short-film director Mohammed Rashed Bu-Ali is busy brain-storming ideas for his fourth movie.

He is one of the island's few young talents to chase his passion for making movies despite the shortcomings of the industry in Bahrain and he is appealing for more support for amateur film-makers.

He said: "There are many people who want to become movie directors but they lack an interest in reading reviews, watching movies and researching information.

"There are others who watch television and feel they want to make movies. There is no difference for them between TV and movies. There is in fact a huge difference."

A former lawyer, Mohammed, 25, explained that in the past the island's film-makers produced movies but had no source to showcase them. But there are now film festivals in the Gulf region and he would like to see one in Bahrain.

He said: "With the opening of film festivals such as in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, people have a chance to showcase their work and that encourages more talent to step forward and create something."

Mohammed also feels that government assistance offering support and guidance for young aspiring film-makers in the kingdom would not only benefit the creative pool of talent but also offer the chance for the world to get an insight into Bahrain's film industry.

He said: "For my short film Absence I was lucky to have renowned Bahraini actor Abdulla Malik in my movie. He agreed to do it because he liked the script and didn't ask for a fee. A music director also did the music for me for free. It was a huge help and had this not been the case, I wouldn't have been able to do it.

"The winner of this year's movie festival in Dubai had a budget of about BD20,000 for a 20-minute film. I did my 10-minute film with 'zero' budget. That's the difference. Here, we have to do it on our own."

Mohammed explained that a small film festival in Bahrain could be the solution. He said: "We don't need big shots coming in or a huge show to be produced. A simple festival for local talent would suffice. If there is no competition then there is no encouragement."

Mohammed recently received the 'jury award' for his short film Absence at the seventh Rotterdam Arab Film Festival.

A resident of Hidd, his interest in movies began at the age of 11 when he began observing cinematic trends in a new light rather than just watching for entertainment.

This was given a further boost when at the age of 17 he watched Hollywood box office hit the Green Mile which brought a new direction to his thinking and appreciation of film.

He said: "I started to read reviews by critics, began watching every movie I could get and slowly began analysing the films and writing my own reviews."

Mohammed left school to pursue a degree in law at the University of Bahrain and then moved to Jordan to complete his course.

It was while there that he began reading cinema and culture columnist Fareed Ramadan in the Al Wattan Arabic newspaper.

He said: "On a short trip home two years ago, I met Mr Ramadan and told him I had written some reviews. He asked to see them, liked them and asked me to start writing for his newspaper."

Mohammed made his first movie on another short trip home from college when he approached Mr Ramadan with a horror script he had written and the newspaper writer encouraged him to go ahead with it.

Within a week he arranged 15 actors ... but with no budget and no camera. His father came to his rescue by presenting him with a camcorder and he completed shooting in a week.

He said: "It was a short film, but my longest one lasting 32 minutes. I had just two weeks as I was on vacation during Ramadan 2006.

"Young guys from university helped me because they liked the script. My vacation was over but I hadn't completed it so I took a week off from my classes and finished the editing before returning to Jordan."

This first venture Between Them received rave reviews at a showing at the Bahrain Cinema Club in Juffair. He said: "It gave me confidence that I could make movies. I then sent it to the Emirates Gulf Film Festival where they showcased my movie on the opening day. It was really good for me."

Mohammed also showed it at a couple of other festivals including the Baghdad Film Festival. He returned to Bahrain after the completion of his course and took up a job at his uncle's firm as a lawyer.

He said: "Being a lawyer took up all my time. I had to wait for a holiday or vacation time to do anything with my movies."

But in what little time he had he wrote the script for From the West.

He said: "I got a chance to shoot it on the eve of Eid Al Adha and since it was going to be a holiday I completed the shooting from 9pm to 3am.

"While everyone else was preparing for Eid, we were shooting and while everyone was celebrating it, I was editing the movie."

The film won an award at the Emirates Film Festival. He then began to focus on his third venture Absence. Mohammed said: "Everyone was talking about Dubai's new Gulf Film Festival and I had been waiting for a chance to make a movie.

"Before the deadline I got a script from well-known Bahraini film critic Hassan Haddad. I loved the idea, it was a family movie. I prepared it in three weeks and submitted it to the festival."

The 10-minute movie attracted the interest of several film critics and was shown at various festivals before receiving the Rotterdam award.

For the future he plans to update his movies on a viewing portal such as YouTube and may also try his hand at feature films.

His two short films From The West and Absence were showcased at the Alreef Short Film Festival which was held at the Bahrain National Museum on Sunday.