Spotlighting Arab cinema

Creative Zaid Sater has made history as the first Bahraini filmmaker to have a project featured at the CineYouth Festival in Chicago.

Mixed Signals, his latest short film, explores the inner world of an Arab immigrant turning to dating apps; not in defiance of tradition, but in search of connection.

“It’s a huge honour, and honestly, a bit surreal,” Zaid told GulfWeekly.

“Being the first Bahraini filmmaker at CineYouth is meaningful not just on a personal level, but also because it signals that stories from the Gulf are starting to find space on international stages,” the 22-year-old, who was raised in Dubai and trained in Los Angeles, added.

“The story follows an Arab immigrant who turns to dating apps, not out of rebellion, but out of loneliness. For me, it’s less about romance and more about how tradition and technology collide in really personal ways.

“Mixed Signals was inspired by conversations I’ve had with friends about what it means to search for connection when your cultural background is wired for privacy and silence around desire. I hope audiences walk away thinking about how much of our identity is shaped not just by where we come from, but by what we choose to hide or reveal in the digital world.”

Zaid’s nuanced exploration of identity isn’t limited to one film. It’s central to his broader creative philosophy. He isn’t interested in fitting into categories and is carving out a cinematic language that refuses to be boxed in. This fusion of identities – regional, cultural and artistic – has become the core of his creative voice.

“Diasporic identity isn’t just about leaving one place for another; it’s about constantly negotiating who you are in relation to where you are. That’s something I’ve felt deeply growing up between the Gulf and the West.”

Zaid is particularly drawn to stories that sit in between binary ideas of East and West, or old and new.

“A lot of young Arabs today are navigating complex inner lives, faith, family pressure, shame, pride, love, all while engaging with the same digital culture as everyone else. That blend creates a kind of emotional whiplash that I think deserves more screen time.”

Though rooted in the region, Zaid’s work has been shaped just as much by his experiences in the US.

“I grew up with a Bahraini father, an Iraqi mother, and spent most of my childhood in Dubai. Visiting Bahrain often kept me grounded in my roots and gave me a strong sense of cultural identity. Then later, moving to the US for film school (Emerson College) gave me the cinematic tools to express those experiences more clearly.

“One thing that really stood out to me in Los Angeles was how much personal identity is celebrated; how you’re encouraged to turn your unique background into your creative voice. Ironically, being away from home actually made me embrace my heritage more deeply,” he explained.

This cultural fluidity has led him to develop what he describes as a ‘dual vision’.

“The Gulf, with its deeply private social fabric, teaches you to communicate through what’s left unsaid — through gesture, tone, and subtext. LA, on the other hand, is all about bold expression and pushing visual storytelling to its limits. As a filmmaker, I’m constantly trying to bridge those two ways of seeing the world; the Arab instinct for emotional subtlety and the Western emphasis on structure, spectacle and psychological depth.”

Zaid co-wrote Mixed Signals with creative partner and fellow filmmaker Ibrahim Fitaihi. Together, they also co-founded Obscura Films, a production company created to give voice to under-represented filmmakers. That collaboration is part of a wider mission.

“Growing up, I rarely saw stories that reflected the realities of people like me, Arabs navigating layered identities across different cultures. Too many stories about the Middle East were either filtered through an outsider’s gaze or reduced to clichés. We wanted to create a space where diasporic filmmakers could tell stories on their own terms, with nuance, humour, and emotional complexity.

“When we started Obscura, it wasn’t just about representation, it was about reclaiming authorship. We’re especially drawn to projects that feel culturally specific but emotionally universal; stories that explore identity, migration, class, and generational tension, but in unexpected or genre-bending ways,” he said.

Looking to the future, Zaid hopes to build on the momentum of Mixed Signals, not just as an individual director, but through Obscura’s expanding slate.

“My aspirations for my filmmaking career and for Obscura Films are deeply rooted in the goal of making a meaningful mark in Arab and Middle Eastern representation in cinema,” he noted.

He envisions a moment when global audiences will meet Arab stories on their own terms.

“Much like how Parasite and Squid Game created a cultural bridge that invited the world to explore Korean cinema on its own terms, I want our projects to connect our culture with the world in a way that feels authentic and grounded, never exoticised,” he said.