by Raynald C Rivera
A hair-raising Qatari feature film is setting a new trend in the country’s emerging cinema landscape at this year’s Made in Qatar section of the fourth Doha Tribeca Film Festival (DTFF 2012).
Titled Lockdown: Red Moon Escape is the first zombie thriller directed by Qatari filmmakers Mohammed Al Ibrahim and Ahmed Al Baker and one of the three films to be screened at a special ‘Thriller Night’ segment of Made in Qatar.
“Since there is a Thriller Night this year, it’s clear that a trend is occurring. There are other filmmakers interested in developing this genre here, which is very exciting,” Al Ibrahim told The Peninsula.
Although genre films featuring supernatural beings called djinn have been made in Arab cinema in the past, it is unusual to see zombie films dominating Western cinema reach the Arab world of films and Qatar in particular, for that Lockdown is a daring attempt to venture in another uncharted course in filmmaking of the country’s new breed of homegrown filmmakers.
Of the many themes that they could have ventured on, the Qatari duo chose to take the subject of zombies and the supernatural – quite a departure from what is expected in a usual festival flick.
”Ahmed and I wanted to do something different that hasn’t been experimented with so much in the region. Since we’re both fans of horror, sci-fi and fantasy, we thought why not? Why can’t there be Qatari zombies or werewolves,” relates Al Ibrahim.
Lockdown tells the story of road trippers Saif and Rashid who encounter a pack of zombies on the loose in the desert while fixing a flat tyre. Saif escapes, but when a military task force jails him, he finds himself in a living nightmare surrounded by supernatural beings.
Although this is the first time Lockdown would be shown in Qatar, the film which was completed earlier this year already enjoyed exposure in international film festivals such as the Gulf Film Festival in April this year and several other small festivals in the region and in North America.
This is not also the first film by the Qatari directors. Al Ibrahim’s film Land of Pearls was screened at DTFF in 2010, though Lockdown is his feature debut.
“Land of Pearls is a narrative short which traces the story about Saad, a 60 year old pearl shopkeeper who tells his grandson the story of how he earned his keep before the days of oil and natural gas,” said Al Ibrahim, who attributes his humble beginnings to workshops conducted by the Doha Film Institute.
“I started through DFI workshops. Film has always been a love of mine, and when I realised that an industry was going to grow here, I merged my passion with my career.”
Al Baker, on the other hand is an engineer by profession, made his debut with the sci-fi adventure The Package: Volume 1, which he wrote, produced and directed and had been lauded by critics for its ‘daring use of colour, lighting and texture.’
“I am extremely proud of the production value and that fact that everything about the film was local. From the story to the actors to the post-production process, everything was done in Qatar,” explained Al Ibrahim.
Majority of the film was shot in Umm Algehab, north of Al Khor, while there are some scenes partly shot in Doha.
The cast also teems with local talent with majority of them Qataris who are products of workshops.
“Almost the entire cast is Qatari. Ahmed and I have been holding acting workshops to develop local talent. An audition was done within this circle of actors to play the roles in the film.”
The main cast includes Mishal Al Dosari, Mariam Al Essa, Mahmoud Al Mahmoud, Abdulaziz Al Dorani, Jassim Mohammed and Faisal Al Baker.
Two more short films will be shown at the Thriller Night segment of Made in Qatar, both by Qatari filmmakers. They are I- a psycho thriller by Ali Faisal Al Ansari and Crazy Calm by Noor Ahmed Yaquib, an intern with Mira Nair in her The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
A total of 19 films will be screened at the Made in Qatar segment which are divided in four sections – New Hopes, Through Their Eyes, Thriller Night and Angel in June.
On his view of the progress and future of filmmaking in Qatar, Al Ibrahim said: “Filmmaking in Qatar is still in its prime. It’s going to take a lot of time and dedication to see it develop further. However I’m happy to see that the number of filmmakers and people involved in film is increasing. It’s a good sign.”The Peninsula
