9 Emirati film personalities who have enriched UAE’s culture

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9 Emirati film personalities who have enriched UAE’s culture

Directors Ali F Mostafa, Nayla Al Khaja and actors such as Fatima Al Taei made their mark

Published: September 02, 2021 12:38 Last updated: September 04, 2021 07:10 Jennifer Barretto, Assistant Editor Features

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1.940712-2400314810 — Ali F Mostafa: When talking about the cinema of the UAE, Mostafa’s name is often uttered — and for good reason. The prominent filmmaker helmed the first Emirati feature film, 2009’s ‘City of Life’ — a touching movie that looked at the city through a lens that was devoid of glamour. He said it was an effort to tell stories of regular people, such as an Indian taxi driver (played by Bollywood star Sonu Sood) and a former Romanian ballet dancer turned flight attendant. “It’s stories that I came up with, some from personal experience, but mostly fiction. That’s what films are about. It’s about escapism, it is a journey for the audience and it’s you who need to create their vehicle,” he wrote for Gulf News in 2010. Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

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1.1300762-1483181115 — Amal Al Agroobi: Not only is Al Agroobi a filmmaker, she also has bragging rights to say that she understands the inner workings of the brain — the director has a Masters in Neurosciences from University College London. Al Agroobi made her debut with the short film ‘Half Emirati’, which had its premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival in 2012 and was nominated for best film. She also directed the 2013 documentary ‘The Brain That Sings’, which is about the lives of two autistic children. Image Credit: Supplied

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1.1441060-3840870348 — Majid Al Ansari: Emirati director Majid Al Ansari made his feature film debut with the daring 2015 psychological thriller ‘Zinzana’, which featured Palestinian actors Saleh Bakri and Ali Suliman in the lead. The dark movie saw Bakri play a man trapped in a prison cell, while Suliman starred as officer Daban who plays vicious games with his inmate. Talking to Gulf News about the filming process, Al Ansari said: “Every Emirati film has to be better than the next, and I really mean that. Not better as a film, but by helping raise the bar of Arabic cinema. I’m very sick of hearing, ‘Arabic films can’t be as good.’” Image Credit: Image Nation

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1.2087725-336091499 — Nujoom Al Ghanem: This multi-hyphenate is known for being a poet, artist and film director. After working as a journalist for many years in the 1980s, Al Ghanem got her Bachelor’s Degree in Video Production from Ohio University in 1996, and went onto get a Masters in Film Production from Griffith University in Australia in 1999. She has directed feature documentaries such as 2010’s ‘Hamama’, 2016’ ‘Honey, Rain, & Dust’ and 2017’s ‘Sharp Tools’. Image Credit: Supplied

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Nayla Al Khaja COVERSHOT-1573280397155 — Nayla Al Khaja: The filmmaker has the distinction of being the UAE’s first Emirati female film writer, director and producer. She made her debut in 2006 with short film ‘Arabana’, which she wrote and directed. It premiered at the 2007 Dubai International Film Festival, where she won the award for best Emirati filmmaker. Al Khaja later directed short films such as ‘Once’, ‘Malal’ (which won the best script award in the Gulf Film Festival in 2010) and ‘Three’. Al Khaja forayed into her first feature-length film, the horror flick ‘The Shadow’ in 2019. Image Credit: Supplied

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Neven Madi — Neven Madi: The Emirati-Syrian actress and TV presenter is know for starring movies such as the 2011 coming-of-age film ‘Sea Shadow’, which was the first movie from Image Nation Abu Dhabi to be filmed in the UAE. She has also had roles in projects such as the 2015 series ‘Dubai London Dubai’ and the 2019 movie ‘Ali & Alia’. Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News

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Fatima Al Taei — Fatima Al Taei: The actress made history by being the only Emirati star to be part of a movie that’s been submitted to the Oscars. In the Saudi fantasy movie ‘Scales’, produced by Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Al Taei plays the mother of Hayat, a head-strong girl who lives in a village that has the tradition of sacrificing one daughter from each family to sea creatures. It is Saudi Arabia’s official entry for the 2021 Academy Awards. Al Taei also took the lead as a lawyer in the legal drama ‘Justice’, which was first Emirati series to stream on Netflix in 2019. Talking to Gulf News, she said: “Sometimes, as an actress you can relate with the characters you play, and with Farah the parallels were so clear and obvious to the point where I feel that there is still some of Farah left in me. She is a role model for me, and she fights for what she believes in.” Image Credit: Clint Egbert/Gulf News

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MAHIRA ABDUL AZIZ — Mahira Abdel Aziz: Another Emirati star to have made their mark on the global scale is Abdel Aziz, who stars on the Arabic Netflix series ‘The Platform’. The sci-fi drama was the first to be produced by an Emirati company for the streamer, and was completely filmed in Abu Dhabi. Abdel Aziz is also an architect and an anchor of the Morning Show on Al Arabiya TV. Image Credit: Antonin Kélian Kallouche/Gulf News

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Mansoor Al Feeli — Mansoor Al Feeli: Here’s an actor who has excelled not just in Emirati content, but in Bollywood and Hollywood too. Al Feeli had a role in this year’s action movie ‘The Misfits’, out now in the UAE, which also starred Pierce Brosnan, Tim Roth and Nick Cannon. He also starred in the 2016 Bollywood movie ‘Dishoom’, which featured Varun Dhawan, John Abraham and Jacqueline Fernandez. Other projects he’s known for include the first Emirati sci-fi movie ‘Ariels’, legal drama ‘Justice’ and ‘Zinzana’. Image Credit: WAM

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