Global Arab Network | Arabia 3D - A magical trip to myth and mystery land

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Arabia 3D - A magical trip to myth and mystery land

- Hannan Taha

Wednesday, 26 May 2010 17:31

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The Prince of Wales and Prince Turki Bin Nasser Bin Abdulaziz attended the London-premiere of Arabia 3D at IMAX Theatre along with many Arab and British key figures and VIP guests from the world of film, music, art and industry.

The film takes its audience on a trip through time to a land cloaked in myth and mystery. The film travels over deserts, past ancient monuments, through the ruins of towering lost cities, hitches a ride on a camel caravan, swoops through a Bedouin tent and even plunges into the violet hues of the Red Sea, to mingle with silvery fish darting through technicolour coral reefs and all in amazing IMAX 3D.
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Expert guides present differing aspects of everyday life and the history behind the desert land - Hamzah Jamjoom, a passionate young Saudi film student who studied in the US at the DePaul University, Chicago. Nimah Nawwab a Saudi female activist, youth leader, writer, poet, photographer and lecturer who has been dubbed ‘the voice of Arab women’. Finally, leading Arabian archaeologist, Dr Dhaifallah Al-Talhi reveals the rich past of Arabia, from the mysterious Nabataean culture to the golden age of Islam. The visual effects and narration of the film takes the audience on a time travel journey through 2000 years of history, from Arabia’s ancient past through to modern day, using the very latest IMAX 3D CGI.

However, if the visual effects don’t stun then the famous names linked to this production will. Academy Award® winner Dame Helen Mirren narrated parts of the film, twice Academy Award nominated Greg MacGillivray (for Dolphins and The Living Sea) of MacGillivray Freeman Films produced and directed it and distinguished author, historian and Middle Eastern expert Robert Lacey acted as consultant. Even the music has a pedigree to rival an Arabian stallion, with Steve Wood (who’s worked with Sting and George Harrison) composing the music and Yusef Islam (previously known as Cat Stevens) allowing his song ‘Beloved’ sung by Youssou N’dour, to be used on the film soundtrack.

Greg MacGillivray, who has previously taken his cameras up Everest and to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, explains one of the reasons he chose to make the film. ‘I hope people will be moved by a fresh portrait of a culture based on strong family ties, education and deep faith – and a people struggling to find a balance between staying true to their valued traditions and finding their own modern way of life.’
Arabia 3D is the first major production to be filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia. The filmmakers were granted access to over 20 sites, including Madain Saleh, inside the Grand Mosque and were even in Makkah (Mecca) to film the largest human gathering on the planet, the annual Hajj, where 3 million Muslim’s gather to reaffirm their faith. This film is an unprecedented trip inside Arabia that aims to show the world what life is really like inside what is a very private Kingdom.

Robert Lacey, an author, journalist and historian who has lived in Arabia and worked as a consultant on the film, eloquently sums it up. ‘It evokes all the extraordinary colours and textures of Arabia, of being surrounded by history but at the same time amid a palpable sense of change. 3D does particular justice to it because you get the sense of a vast landscapes and a vivid knock-out picture of a proud, rooted culture in both its spiritual and practical dimensions.’

But it is perhaps the young filmmaker Hamzah Jamjoom who explains the mix of modern film technology and ancient Arabian culture and what he feels it signifies for the future. ‘I think Arabia is entering a new golden age with a youthful generation of scientists, thinkers, and innovators who will ensure Arabia fulfils its potential. I hope this film becomes a catalyst for continued debate, greater insight and understanding.’

20 Facts about Arabia 3D

1.   Arabia 3D is the first major film production filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia, and the first IMAX film crew allowed permission to film in the country.

2.   Saudi Arabia is a country with no film production infrastructure or protocol, therefore MacGillivray Freeman Films had to break new ground. Working with the experienced MacGillivray Freeman crew, Saudi officials created new protocols for the production.

3.   The film was shot at more than 20 different locations across Saudi Arabia, which required major logistical planning and coordination with Saudi officials.

4.    First time aerials were shot of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah.

5.    First time a major Hollywood-style art department was brought to Saudi Arabia to recreate historical sets depicting life in the Nabataean era.

6.      The time-traveling story of Arabia 3D spans 2,000 years of Arabian history.

7.      It took 4 years to produce Arabia 3D.

8.      Crew members were assembled from 15 different countries in the Middle East

9.      It took four crew members just to lift the body of the 300-pound IMAX 3D camera.

10. The IMAX 3D film reels can only hold 3 minutes of film at one time.

11. The MacGillivray Freeman IMAX 3D film crew was the first to capture the overwhelming atmosphere of Madain Saleh for Western film audiences.

12. Madain Saleh, site of perhaps the greatest Arabian historical treasures, is one few people have seen. Standing at the mid-point between Petra and Makkah, Madain Saleh was once the crossroads of many Arabian caravan routes, providing water and shelter for travelers.

13. On a par with the world’s most illuminating ancient ruins, Madain Saleh provides a rare window into Arabian history and particularly, into the unsolved mysteries of the Nabataean civilization that was its forebear. Like its sister site in Jordan, the more famous Petra, Madain Saleh is a 2,000 year-old city hewed out of soaring sandstone rocks, featuring hundreds of intricately carved tombs and chambers.

14. In 2008, UNESCO designated Madain Saleh as Saudi Arabia’s first World Heritage Site.

15.    Arabia 3D captures rare footage of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, which has rarely been filmed before. More common is footage from the Israel, Jordan and Egypt sides.   Much of the Red Sea on the Saudi side remains uncharted waters.

16.    The Red Sea is home to many unique life forms, including over 250 species of coral that are found nowhere else on earth.

17.    Arabia 3D explores the Islamic Golden Age -- Innovative 3D CGI was used to bring alive – in multiple, eye-popping dimensions – the spirit of discovery that fueled the Islamic Golden Age. In an exhilarating sequence at the center of the movie, 3D animation introduces the audience to some of the great scientists and forward-thinking inventions that catapulted Arabia into the Islamic Golden Age where such staples as algebra, optics, hospitals and the scientific method were developed.

18.    Arabia 3D captures the hajj in IMAX 3D. With a series of stunning time-lapse images, audiences can experience the extraordinary pilgrimage known as the hajj where every year 3 million Muslims arrive in the holy city of Makkah to reaffirm their faith.

19.    The hajj is the largest single human gathering on Earth and Arabia 3D captures the experience as no other film format could.

20. The film is now showing in 14 IMAX and IMAX 3D theatres worldwide where the screens soar six stories tall.

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