A week of many firsts for the Qatari film industry has included the launch of the country’s first homegrown thriller Sa3oud Wainah? directed by Mohammed Al-Ibrahim and produced by Katara Studios.
It had its world premiere at the inaugural Doha Film Festival this weekend.
Qatari filmmaker Al-Ibrahim said he went down the genre route with his feature debut to give local audiences what they want.
“We consume a lot of genre [in Qatar],” he said. “I have a huge appetite for genre.”
While Qatar has previously made features, including 2010 drama Clockwise by Khalifa Al-Muraikhi, Sa3oud Wainah?, which literally translates as ’Where is Sa3oud?’, is being heralded as the first thriller written, directed, produced and filmed entirely in Qatar.
Set over one night at a farmhouse outside of the city, the film is about brothers Hamood and Sa3oud as they attempt a magic trick they learned from their father. However, Sa3oud fails to reappear.
Written by Al-Ibrahim and Jassim Abel, it is produced by Mahmoud Hamaky, Luca Bercovici, Hussein Fakhri and Ahmed Al Baker for Katara Studios.
The filmmaker originally studied criminal justice due to an interest in human behaviour, with a view to working at the country’s ministry of interior. “Being interested in human behaviour automatically makes you a person who is interested in the arts,” says Al-Ibrahim.
He began working in the education department of the Doha Film Institute, producing workshops for people learning about film, while also learning himself. He also made short films, including 2010’s Land Of Pearls and 2013’s Bidoon, and directed the ‘Arhbo’ music video for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Challenge
The idea for Sa3oud Wainah? came to him in early 2024, as “what if a magic trick were to become real?”
“I began having discussions with [co-writer] Jassim,” said Al-Ibrahim. “We thought, in order for us to produce it, it should be as contained as possible. We challenged ourselves to tell a story in one location, on one night, that pulls back the onion on this family dealing with the loss of their father.”
That spring Al-Ibrahim brought the idea to Katara CEO Al-Baker, director and producer of the World Cup opening and closing ceremonies and a leading figure in the creation of Qatar’s cultural branding. “It wasn’t something I took seriously at the time,” said Al-Ibrahim, but Al-Baker was on board. “He told me ‘we weren’t scheduled to do anything this summer, but actually we have a slot of about six to eight weeks’.
“Part of me thought it was an insane timeframe to try to rewrite, then go to pre-production. But at the same time, I really wanted to do it. We put all hands on deck, did some rewrites and went for it in the summer.”
The collegiate nature of the Qatari industry meant Al-ibrahim had written the parts with certain actors in mind, including Mishal Al Dosari and Saad Al Naimi as the brothers.
Local locations were key. “Part of Qatari identity is the people and geography,” said Al-Ibrahim. “A lot of people go to the north to escape the city. It’s an extension of the family home but it can also be eerie, ominous, scary. We wanted to explore that landscape.”
Katara Studios will give the film a theatrical release in the Gulf region next year.
“It’s important for us that we get to our Qatari audience first and foremost, but also in the region and expanding out to the Arab world,” said Al-Ibrahim. Once that is achieved, he is keen to launch sales to territories further afield. “There are cinema enthusiasts all over the world who are looking for untouched areas of cinematic exports.”
Looking ahead, the director is developing two feature screenplays, one of which he hopes to make next year. He also has a long-gestating limited series that he hopes to “pull off the shelf and give a fresh spin”.
With Sa3oud Wainah? now out in the world, he is happy to pass it to colleagues in distribution – and the audience. “At that point as a director, you have to give it up,” said Al-Ibrahim. “My job was to get the message across [to the team]. At that point, I had to let go of it. In giving up on one baby, to cope with that emotionally, you have to make another.”
No comments yet