By Umer Nangiana
A clock in his stock of watches turns backwards and takes Saad back into the 30s era. It was a time when genies interacted with humans. It was here that the music of fijiri was taught to humans by genies and it was here Saad had found the love of his life, Jeena, a female genie.
Capturing this folklorist epoch is Qatar’s first feature film Clockwise that narrates the story of Saad, the music of fijiri and the evolution of human thought in general.
Now an old-man with shivering hands and bleak voice, strolling streets of Souq Waqif selling watches, Saad stumbles and drops the bag of his watches. The time pieces pop out. One of them, a magical antique watch, ticks backwards.
And we see a child Saad talking to his father. From there on, he relives a mysterious episode of his youth, a time during the 1930s when he nearly lost his father, but also found the love of his life.
Directed by Khalifa al-Muraikhi and originally released in 2010, the film was screened as part of ‘Focus on Qatar’, in this year’s Hekayat Khaleejiya (Khaleeji Stories) series screenings by Doha Film Institute (DFI), taking place at Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) until tomorrow.
The history of Qatari cinema shows a steady climb. Since the release of Clockwise, the nation’s first feature-length film, five years ago, Qatar’s filmmakers have continued to build the profile on the global stage.
“The past five years have seen enormous expansion in homegrown filmmaking. With this special series, we celebrate cinema in Qatar by bringing together Qatari filmmakers and local industry professionals, who have witnessed and contributed to the recent developments in our beloved art form,” said Fatma al-Remaihi, the CEO of DFI, while speaking to the audience on the first day of Focus on Qatar that featured a brief demonstration on the history of filmmaking in Qatar.
In recalling this period, the 110-minute Clockwise relates the folktale of how fijiri, the entrancing music of Khaleeji pearl divers, came to be. It also depicts in flashes how globalisation has changed young people and their aspirations.
As Saad trips back in time, his father Atique tells him how he adopted Saad when they were the lone survivors of a tragic boat wreck, and the two lead a humble life in a village by the sea.
One night, Atique happens upon a group of jinn as he seeks out the source of an enchanting melody in a nearby ruin. Their leader, Adsaan, agrees to teach Atique this fijiri music, but only if he vows not to share it with anyone else.
Adsaan’s one condition proves very challenging to Atique, who becomes eager to celebrate the art of fijiri with a wider audience. Saad meanwhile, falls in love with Jeena, a renegade jinni who, as it turns out, just might hold the key to his father’s salvation.
Atique along with two colleagues learned the fijiri art from the jinn. As they struggle to keep the vow, his two aides violate Adsan’s condition and fail to keep the secret of fijiri. They get killed. The next is Atique. But his son Saad saves his life with the help of magic potion given to him by his beloved Jeena.
Featuring a magnificent score and shot in various locations in Qatar, including Souq Waqif, Wakrah and Shamal, Clockwise is director Khalifa al-Muraikhi’s feature debut. It had its world premiere in Doha as part of the city’s Arab Capital of Culture celebrations in 2010 before being invited to prestigious international film festivals.
“Muraikhi is one of the best directors we have in Qatar. And the support he received from the writers, from the Ministry of Culture and DFI was great. You cannot clap with one hand. It has to be a team work. When all the support is there, creativity will come,” Khalifa al-Obaidly, an artist and photographer, one of the look book luminaries, tells Community.
“Since the DFI started to lay the foundation for the cinema industry and with the young taking care of ideas and creativity, making sure they are used in the right direction, I can say that now, we are on solid ground,” adds al-Obaidly.
Khalifa al-Muraikhi was born in Doha and holds a BA from Chapman University. From a very early age, painting was his passion and this would eventually lead him to a career in filmmaking. He was drawn to cinema by the work of directors like Salah Abu Saif, Michelangelo Antonioni, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles.
His films include The Blind Girl (2000), which took the golden trophy at the Cairo Film and Television Festival; Threads Beneath Sands (2003), winner of the Golden Dagger at the Muscat International Film Festival; and The End (2004), which took the bronze trophy at the Arab Film and TV Festival.
Clockwise (2009), which he also wrote, was the first feature-length film made in Qatar. He is currently working on Sahaab, a feature-length film from his own screenplay.
“I remember there were some initiatives in cinema industry, but now we can say that we have a solid programme and we can rely on it. And very soon you will see the result of these past 3-4 years of work,” says veteran artist
al-Obaidly.
He recalls the time of 60s when they used to watch cinema with their fathers in their villages and cities. However, he acknowledges there was no catalyst to generate the people for doing movies then.
“I remember when Tribeca Film Festival started in 2009; I, myself, did a one-minute movie which was really very exciting. I mean we nine people participated in it and we came up with short films that were very creative,” says al-Obaidly.
He believes the stage is now all set for long feature length films to be produced more frequently. “That time is coming, but we have to build it slowly from ground up with solid foundation and then it will be really a foundation for future feature films,” says al-Obaidly.
Saad Borshaid, a director and actor who was part of the Jury for Ajyal Youth Film Festival 2014, agrees with his colleague.
“We can note that during the last five years there has been significant development in filmmaking here in Qatar. We saw it with the beginning of the Tribeca Film Festival. Now, we see the Ajyal Film Festival. The most encouraging thing is that the Qatari youth is getting into filmmaking,” Borshaid tells Community.
“Seeing it during the last five years, I can say that we will see a lot of development in the near future,” he suggested, advising future filmmakers to focus more on social issues.
“I think the most important issues they can deal with are social issues and the ones related to our future generations. Some of them might want to feature our history and heritage, which is fine, but we have to focus on the youth issues and the social issues more,” says the veteran director and actor.
He says he sees a great future for Qatari filmmaking. Clockwise features actors from Qatar besides some coming from the region such as the female lead Maysaa Maghribi. The others include Ali Hassan, Abdulla Hamid, Ali Mirza and Naser al-Momen.
Hekayat Khaleejiya is a quarterly screening series dedicated to showcasing cinematic voices from the Gulf region. The series presents films accompanied by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers to gain insight into their work and process.
Saad Borshaid delves into the history of Qatar cinema before the screening of Clockwise. Photos by Umer Nangiana
