Nayla Al Khaja stands fit for the title of ‘Female Ambassador of Emirati Culture’.
This year’s Dubai International Film Festival (Diff) sees a striking rise of Emirati films shortlisted for the Muhr Emirati Competition. It is fascinating to see Emirati women directing films portraying the depth and cultural reality of their heritage.
The UAE’s first female film producer and director, Nayla Al Khaja, who holds many accolades including ‘Best Emirati Filmmaker’ (DIFF in 2007 and 2011), stands out as the most exceptional filmmaker having boldly chosen to screen a film depicting her past of “terror” to the audience.
Al Khaja’s latest short Animal (Haywan) is a suspenseful thriller, layered with drama and mystery, with an aesthetic cinematography enveloped in a stylistic pastiche. The story is about a “sociopath and narcissist” father who dominates over his timid wife and innocent child in their home causing an aura of horror.
Al Khaja revealed that innocent child is, in fact, her.
This is one of the first times in the UAE that an Emirati filmmaker has brought an intimate real-life story in front of the camera.
“Filming Animal wasn’t an easy experience. It is based on mine and my brother’s experience. We were caged in a surrounding of absolute terror where we were not allowed to cough, cry or even whisper,” she said. “Normal human sounds that we take for granted were forbidden for us.”
Al Khaja recalled her daunting past by relating various events, one of them being trembling in fear when she accidentally broke a shaving machine and her father walked in. The only thing she could do was run to her room and suffocate herself into the pillow without making a sound, she said.
She also emphasised on the topic of good parenting and said, “I find it mind-boggling that people get tested for driving licenses but they don’t get tested to become a good parent.”
Having gone through such trauma for 29 years, Al Khaja still managed to emerge as a “strong” and “independent” woman in the filmmaking industry, with titles such as the ‘Emirates Woman of the Year’ (2005) at the Global Businesswomen and Leaders Summit Awards.
When asked if she considers herself as an ‘ambassador’ of the UAE, she said that she wants to present the reality of her culture, so that the perceptions the West has of the Arab world can be balanced.
“I want to show the reality of my culture in a realistic way, not over-polishing it and not griming the scenario,” she said.
— The Young Journalist Award (YJA) at Diff is a training programme for high school and university students who are aspiring writers and reporters. Eight students are competing at the festival this year. One winner will secure a monthlong internship with Gulf News.
