With the number of short films she has made, it can be quite easy to forget that emerging filmmaker Amal Al Muftah is still in school, currently busy with university applications, exams and portfolios as she starts to wrap up her final year at Qatar Academy (QA). A quick look at her credentials, though, reveals a gifted storyteller equipped with technical skills learned at QA’s established film programme and further honed through Doha Film Institute.
Last year, her two and a half minute movie Al Koora was part of the ‘Made in Qatar’ category of the Ajyal Youth Film Festival, one of the youngest filmmaker to be featured in the group. And the upcoming Thimun Qatar Northwestern Film Festival next month thrusts her back into the spotlight anew with her entry Al Hamali receiving over 75,000 views already. Nominated for five different categories including Best Picture, the documentary looks into the lives of hamalis or the attendants working in Souqs.
Yet, Amal’s formal training and interest in films began only a little over three years ago. “When I came to QA, there were subjects like music, drama, art and film that I can take. So this is something new for me and I needed to try it; that was in Grade 10 and ever since I’ve been working on films and going to the (Thimun Qatar Northwestern) film fest. And then last year, at the beginning of Grade 11 I told myself that I’m going to be involved in any and every film activity”.
True enough Amal’s documentary Split Second – her first complete production – not only was accepted into the festival but walked away with the Best National Picture and People’s Choice Award. “In many ways, I feel like the film class is – from that experience as a whole – where I first realised that I can really do this for the future. I think QA was the spark. If I didn’t come here I wouldn’t have recognised that that is something I really like to do”.
Together with the film courses she’s still taking under the International Baccalaureate’s Diploma Programme, Amal remains interested and dedicated to continue pursuing filmmaking. “I feel like film (class) is more open for us to express ourselves in a much broader medium. Yes, you have to think about your grade but at the end of the day, you’re graded on the whether you delivered your idea or not and not whether your idea is good or bad”.
The Peninsula
