Your readers are aware that I have been working on the Grain of Sand film in Bahrain - so after almost four years of planning and research, the filming is now over!
Toby Watts from Far North Film was in Bahrain for two weeks, following the action as it happened. The most affirming aspect of this whole process was that whilst we were filming, various themes that were very strong in my mind, even reasons for making the film, were brought up by various characters whilst we filmed, without my prodding or encouragement.
This spoke volumes in terms of how important this film will be. I don’t want to elaborate too much on this at the moment as all will be revealed in the film itself. Once the film is ready, we will be circulating it at film festivals in the Arabian Gulf and the wider world, with a view to establishing a TV series of five films along a similar theme in the region.
From that moment in 2013 when I had the idea for Grain of Sand, I knew there was an important story to tell and now I can see clearly how this story will unfold for others as they watch it.
Suffice to say, we hope to have a visually stunning film packed with meaning and content which I believe will be a stepping stone to other films along the same theme in the Arabian Gulf. I also hope to bring this group of Bahrainis to the UK for concerts in 2017/18 as we focused on five particular songs that are not even known in Bahrain, let alone the rest of the Gulf or the wider world.
We do have some extra editing time costs to cover so if you are interested in supporting the final stages of making this film then please do get in touch! With very best wishes, Jason Carter. https://www.jasoncarter.net https://www.grainofsand.tv
Editor’s note: As reported in GulfWeekly, the 47-yearold harp guitarist, who now resides in Saar, first fell in love with the island in 1999 when he performed alongside a group of pearl-divers at the Bahrain Arts Centre. He has been working on a multimedia documentary about the music and culture of the pearl divers. The Bahrain documentary entitled Grain of Sand should be ready for release in the spring.
Three lucky winners each won a car from YK Almoayyed & Sons, a Bahrain Shopping Festival strategic partner.
From the gold tier, Ms Fatema Ahmed won a Nissan Patrol, while Ms Drakshan Ahmed from the silver tier won a Nissan Altima and Mr Rajendra, Nair from the bronze tier, won a Nissan Sunny.
The winners were chosen electronically from the list of the registered shoppers in the Festival’s loyalty system spending BD10 or more. It was the third in a series of four raffle draws to be held every week, with the last one this coming Sunday.
Congratulations to the winners. Shoppers still have the chance to win in the Festival’s final raffle draw and we encourage everyone to shop more during Shop Bahrain to increase their chances of winning one of the three remaining cars. Shop Bahrain Director, Yousif Al Khan, Shop Bahrain Director
