DOHA: The award-winning short film Hind’s Dream by Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) staff and students from Georgetown Film Society (GFS) was screened yesterday at Imagine Science Film Festival in Abu Dhabi.
It depicts a Bedouin girl recounting a strange dream about wandering the desert and glimpsing a future desert city, reflecting the history, modernity, and folklore of Qatar.
The film premiered at 2014 Abu Dhabi Film Festival and screened at 2014 Ajyal Film Festival where it won the jury award for ‘artistic vision’.
“GFS is a club where people get together to learn more about movies and moviemaking. Taking part in the film did not give students academic credit, but contributing to the creative community and being part of a student club is an essential characteristic of the Georgetown spirit,” said writer and director Suzi Mirgani, Manager and Editor for Publications at Georgetown’s Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS).
“Making this film was a combination of learning about the history and modernity of the Gulf and translating that knowledge into an artistic language that can be shared with a wider audience,” said Mirgani.
“Georgetown has always promoted creativity outside the classroom and we received support from the community during the making of the film, especially after production and its promotion.
“Recently we presented the film as a Focused Discussion at the CIRS and it was also screened at the ‘Scapes of Power’ conference to mark GU-Q’s 10th anniversary,” added Mirgani.
Student Haya Al Rumaihi, majoring in culture and politics and tasked with translating Suzi’s poem into Arabic, said: “I was aiming to grasp the meaning of the poem rather than finding literal translation. Given that it was a poem, I also tried to ensure that a poetic melody came through. It was an experience I very much enjoyed and has helped me to further appreciate language and the power of communication, be it through movies or poetry.”
GFS member Athanasios Sardellis played one of the two lead characters along with co-student Asli Altinisik, both culture and politics majors.
“It was interesting to ‘study’ Qatar through this film outside the classroom. Looking at it from a Georgetown student’s perspective, producing it is the first step in establishing an artistic and creative culture,” said Sardellis.
“Most of my classes develop perspectives that are not mainstream. In Hind’s Dream, I employed those skills not to judge or pity Hind but to imagine and understand what a woman like her might feel about living the life portrayed,” said Altinisik.
The Peninsula
