[ad_1]
GUADALAJARA, 2nd December, 2022 (WAM) — Challenges facing the UAE and Mexican film industries and the impact of technology and digital platforms such as Netflix took center stage during a panel discussion organized by Sharjah VIPs at the ongoing 36th International Book Fair of Guadalajara, Mexico. Emirati filmmaker and author Nasser Al Dhahiri was joined by his Mexican counterpart Samuel Kishi.
In a session titled “Keeping Up with the Current Film Landscape in the UAE and Mexico” and moderated by author Estrella Araiza, Al Dhahiri discussed his journey to making his first film, “A Tale of Water, Palms and Family”. The idea started with a question about the roots of the UAE and its population, he said, noting that he undertook a long process accompanied by a Dutch filmmaker to find the origins of the Emirati people dating back thousands of years.
According to Al Dhahiri, there is a close relationship between travelers passing through the UAE and those carrying water and palm trees, which he has documented through pictures and stories passed down from generation to generation.
Regarding the challenges faced by cinemas in the UAE, he said that these issues are similar to those faced by independent cinemas worldwide, which basically lack proper funding. Furthermore, he noted that 90 percent of the films screened in the UAE are American films, while the rest is divided between Arabic and other English-language films.
Talking about advances in technology, he said: “In the past, filmmaking was very expensive and mistakes were costly, and that’s not including the costs associated with building locations. With digital cameras and computer-generated images, this has helped keep production costs down. , a good early example of this is the movie Titanic, which used these tools to make their project viable. Although not obvious to the audience, it is amazing how captivating and expansive the set it has It was filmed in a small pool.”
Samuel Kishi recalls a story about a film he worked on and talks about some of the troubles he had in the film industry. He said that the film was selected for the Berlin Film Festival, but all the screens were booked out, and he did not have the opportunity to screen his own film due to too many commercial films being shown.
Regarding Zahiri’s comments about the imbalance in showing films in Mexico, Samuel said that American films dominate Mexican cinemas, noting that independent foreign films accounted for only 1%, local films accounted for only 6%, and 93% were produced by Mexico. According to him, American cinema has made it very challenging to show independent films.
[ad_2]
Source link