Monday, Jan 23, 2006

Muscat: It was a dream come true for Khalid Abdul Rahim Al Zedjali when his feature film Al Boom was screened on the opening day of the Muscat Film Festival on Saturday night at the Al Shatti Plaza Cinema here in Qurum district of the capital.

History was made with the first Omani feature film hitting the screen. Al Zedjali told Gulf News: "It was an overwhelming experience to see the first Omani feature film being screened as the opening entry for the Muscat Film Festival."

Interestingly, Al Zedjali was the brain behind the Festival when it was started four years ago. "I had always nurtured an ambition to screen my own film at this festival since the time we held the first edition in 2003," he added.

Dr Rajha Bint Abdul Ameer Bin Ali, Minister of Tourism, declared the Film Festival Open. Al Zedjali and his film crew of 30 then went on the stage as the packed house applauded their maiden effort.

The writer-director of Al Boom hopes that the successful screening of the first Omani feature film would inspire others to go into production and make more such feature films in future. "It was a great experience to make the first film where most of the artistes also had no experience of shooting for a feature film," said Al Zedjali.

Veteran Oman television artist Saleh Za'al and young actress Zuha Qader are the protagonists of the film that is based on Samuel Beckett's classic Waiting for Godot.

In August last year, when Al Zedjali began shooting for his film he had told Gulf News that the crew were determined to work hard to complete the film in time for the January 21 screening on the first day of the Muscat Film Festival. "We kept our promise," he reminded. The festival ends on January 26.

That the movie fans in Muscat were eagerly waiting for the first Omani film was evident from the fact that not only was the Al Shatti Plaza Cinema packed, people occupied whatever space was available in the aisle to watch cinematic history being made.

The Muscat Film Festival also marks the celebrations of Muscat as the Arab Cultural Capital for 2006. "Forty-six films from 28 countries would be screened during the weeklong festival," said Talib Bin Mohammad Al Balushi, Head of the Public Relations Committee of the Muscat Film Festival.

What's in store
Arab and foreign films to be screened

  • The Arab films being screened in the Muscat Film Festival are two each from Egypt, Morocco and Lebanon and one each from Tunisia, Syria, Kuwait and the UAE.
  • There are 10 foreign films from 10 different countries, ie China, Taiwan, Britain, Austria, the US, France, South Africa, India, Germany and the Netherlands. Three films from Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are not part of the competition.
  • An exhibition and a seminar shall be held today as part of the festival at the Oman Society for Fine Arts.
  • British Council will be showcasing two movies. One is by British-Yemeni film maker Bader Al Hirsi, titled A New Day in Old Sanaa, and another one, Dear Frankie, is set in Scotland and directed by Shona Auebach. Indian entry While it Rains Hot is based on the lives of kith and kin of expatriates from Kerala state working in the Gulf.
  • The first Omani feature film Al Boom was completed in a record four months.

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.