A DREAM: United Arab Emirates’ First Feature Film
by Andre Soares
"We are defending our identity and our being in this place," screenwriter Yousef Ibrahim told Reuters after excerpts of his film, Hilm (A Dream), the first feature made in the United Arab Emirates, was shown to the media.
In Hilm, which is supposed to work as a metaphor for the current Emirati soul-searching, a group of frustrated actors, writers, and directors travel to the local desert to shoot a film about themselves — only to get lost in the arid landscape.
"Non-Emiratis live in Dubai but they don’t know us," says Hilm director Hani al-Shaibani, "so we have to reflect ourselves in a better way. We have to tell our stories, our reality, show our homes, how we live, react and deal with people."
According to Al Jazeera, Emirati nationals represent less than 20% of the UAE’s population of 4.3 million. Locals tend to live apart from the Europeans, Asians, and other Arabs who live in the bigger cities such as Dubai and Sharjah.
The Al Jazeera article also states that UAE citizens are currently debating proposals to maintain their national identity, including the banning of intermarriages between Emirati women and foreigners.
Curiously, the words "xenophobia" and "nativism" are never mentioned in the piece.
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