Global Arab Network | Chronicle of change - Abu Dhabi's journey to modernity

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Chronicle of change - Abu Dhabi's journey to modernity

- Jihad Taki

Sunday, 04 October 2009 00:03

Afeature documentary about Abu Dhabi's journey to modernity, Changing Sands, will be screened in the UAE later this year. The director calls it a great summary for those who don't know anything about the emirate.

Little did filmmaker Bader Ben Hirsi know he'd one day give cinematic life to the desert quests described in writing by legendary British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger.

"I read his book [Arabian Sands] more than 10 years ago," says Hirsi, who directed Changing Sands, a feature-documentary about Abu Dhabi's development through the eyes of Thesiger and his two Bedouin guides Salim Bin Kabina and Salim Bin Ghubaisha; the former still living.

After a successful presence at the Cannes Film Festival this year, the documentary will be screened in the UAE over the next few months. The team is ecstatic and hopes it will become a reference for those who want to learn about the emirate.

While their aspiration is commendable, it remains to be seen whether the documentary will outlast its premiere status.

Changing Sands is narrated using a collage of references to persons like Thesiger, the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the emirate's residents and the two Bedouin guides, but Hirsi says the real star of the film is Abu Dhabi. "It's the adventure of a city from a small coastal town to a capital that generates interest from people all around the world."

Hirsi is an award-winning British-Yemeni filmmaker, once called 'a writer too bleak and too brilliant to be missed' by the London edition of What's On. He has directed successful theatre productions for the Blue Harlequin Theatre Company; written plays and screenplays; and directed and produced several award-winning documentaries including The English Sheikh and The Yemeni Gentleman and A New Day in Old Sana'a. His work has been screened during university tours, at festivals like The Carthage Film Festival and for institutions around the world, notably the United Nations.

The drive behind this project is partly his fascination for the region and his passion to make films about the Arab world. Abu Dhabi's rapid development is astounding and fascinating in itself, says Hirsi. "I also wanted to show the changes on a personal level through the eyes of the people who have lived through it."

Changing Sands is a 60-minute documentary produced by
Pyramedia, one of the largest production companies in the region, based in Abu Dhabi with offices in Dubai, Cairo, London, Bristol and New York. The feature chronicles Abu Dhabi's 'Yesterday', 'Today' and 'Tomorrow'; its theme is in accordance with Hirsi's vision to make films to help people, especially those who aren't from the region, see the place
in a different light.

"I feel privileged and honoured to be in a position to do this accurately, or at least as accurately as possible. As a British-Yemeni person, born and raised in London, I find it interesting to hear what people who aren't from the Middle East think of the Arab world. In my first documentary, The English Sheikh and The Yemeni Gentleman with author Tim Mackintosh Smith, I became familiar with British writers' views of the Arab world," he says.

The challenges for Hirsi weren't limited to the logistics of filming the documentary in the desert and ploughing through archive footage to learn about the Bedouin way of life, but there was also the difficulty of finding someone who shared his vision.

"Many people have ideas to make a film; the hardest thing is to find a person to share your vision and see it materialise," he says.

For him that person was Nashwa Al Ruwaini, the CEO of Pyramedia and a doyenne of the media industry for 20 years. Hirsi worked with her on Million's Poet on Abu Dhabi TV, a groundbreaking reality TV show. Al Ruwaini believed in Hirsi's vision and commissioned him to direct Changing Sands, the first project by PyraMovies, Pyramedia's newly established film production unit. She said she didn't want the documentary to be just another informative piece. She wanted it to tell a story.

Unlike most documentaries that hold their ground as polemical or propagandistic, Changing Sands is a touching story. Hirsi says film, whether documentary or fiction, is the modern-day equivalent of storytelling. "It can enlighten and teach people things they didn't know before."

The first step involved research. To delineate the story, the team had to produce a 360° window into Abu Dhabi's past, present and future, Hirsi collated factual and historical information. The team spoke to consultants and specialists, and viewed extensive archive footage of Shaikh Zayed's childhood and the pearling industry. They conducted interviews with residents to learn about local culture, and studied governmental strategies, in particular, The Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.

"I didn't want the divide [between 'Yesterday', 'Today' and 'Tomorrow'], to be obvious. Instead I chose to tell the story through a combination of materials from photographs to stories of people and reenactments."

Another challenge was to find actors. Hirsi has worked in countries where casting agents are an integral part of filmmaking. The nascent industry in the UAE had a few roadblocks in this regard. Stymied, he opted for a different route and contacted theatre and drama groups. He was amazed at the result. "We received support from Emiratis who love acting."

The shooting for Changing Sands started in April and the crew shot in Al Ain, Liwa, Khattam and central Abu Dhabi among other places in order to capture Thesiger's adventures with his favourite Bedouin guides.

"Thesiger's journey through the Empty Quarter desert, spanning five years, was one filled with hardship and danger. The camaraderie, loyalty and love he shared with his guides was dear to him. Their tale is an affecting window into Abu Dhabi's yesterday," says Hirsi, adding that the documentary is a great introduction for those who don't know anything about the emirate.

Changing Sands speaks of Thesiger's dream – one in which Arabs would preserve the old way of life. Still, some Bedouins wanted to see progress that mirrored the West's. It is a tug of war between tradition and modernity, and the documentary's catastasis. This interplay between identity and progress is what forms the central narrative in Changing Sands. It will be interesting to see how Hirsi achieves the balance.

Hirsi has made around 10 films about the Arab world. "Although each one is different, I'm told by friends and colleagues that they can always tell my work. I think it must be like hearing a singer; you know their voice, and as a filmmaker I presume I have an individual voice," he says.

Changing Sands is his voice, his style. In the documentary, he presents a balanced view, and doesn't deviate from this approach. "You have Thesiger's views juxtaposed against those of Emiratis who were around at the time. I believe the answer can only be determined by the viewer," says Hirsi. And like Al Ruwaini, he too hopes Changing Sands will enjoy worldwide appeal and prove to be a befitting introduction to the emirate.

Global Arab Network

By Carolina D'Souza, Lifestyle Features Coordinator, Gulfnews

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