Images courtesy of artists
Sharjah Art Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of the Sharjah Film Platform 7 Short Film Production Grant: Salim Abu Jabal for The Untold Story of Yusra, Fatima Wardy for White Musk and Basma Al Sharif for Morgenkreis/Morning Circle. The winning recipients will share a total of 120,000 AED.
Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and the Foundation are also offering 25,000 AED to an Emirati filmmaker jointly selected by the two institutions: Hana Kazim for Yathoom. Grant recipients will screen their completed films at a future edition of Sharjah Film Platform.
One of the Foundation’s core initiatives, the Short Film Production Grant is offered in conjunction with the annual Sharjah Film Platform, a festival of independent cinema and moving image. The grant is open to all independent filmmakers through an open call without any restrictions on age, region or genre.
New this year, ADMAF and the Foundation have also established a grant to enhance independent Emirati cinema. This grant provides opportunities to one Emirati awardee to enable them to make new work.
‘Open to filmmakers from all backgrounds, the Sharjah Film Platform Short Film Production Grant reflects our commitment to independent cinema,’ says Nawar Al Qassimi, Vice President of Sharjah Art Foundation. ‘This year, we are especially proud to have partnered with ADMAF to present a grant for emerging Emirati filmmakers. We believe it is important to continue to provide opportunities for young filmmakers to develop their practice, and collaborations such as these are essential to fostering a vibrant, homegrown film industry.’
Her Excellency Huda Ibrahim Al-Khamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) and Founder of Abu Dhabi Festival, highlighted the leading role played by the Sharjah Film Platform in building professional skills in the field of film production and the importance of the short film production grant in enhancing the sustainability of the arts and creative industries in the UAE by supporting filmmakers.
H.E. commented: “The Sharjah Film Platform Short Film Production Grant, in partnership with the Sharjah Art Foundation, builds creative capacities and stimulates the ambitions of Emirati directors for global competitiveness in creating content that attracts both local and international audiences.”
Hana Kazim
Hana Kazim’s film Yathoom tells the story of 19-year-old medical student Layla, who struggles with guilt after surviving a major accident that kills her father and brother. Depressed and suffering from insomnia, she sees a shadow-like figure stalk her. One night, she experiences sleep paralysis. In this altered state of mind, where her nightmare blends with her waking world, Layla goes through various situations until she is confronted with her own self in a colourful mirror-like void.
In 2018, Hana Kazim wrote and directed Makr, a short horror film that screened at several prestigious festivals, including Fantastic Fest and FrightFest. It quickly gained over a half million views online through the Alter platform and was featured on Short of the Week. In 2022, Kazim started Wiswas, an entertainment company based in Sharjah. She has since written and directed the pilot episode of the horror anthology series ‘Kaboos’ (2023) for StarzPlay Arabia.
Supported by Sharjah Art Foundation and ADMAF, Hana Kazim’s film Yathoom is also supported by Ministy of Culture and Youth, UAE.
Salim Abu Jabal
Salim Abu Jabal’s The Untold Story of Yusra is set in 1930s Palestine, where Yusra joins British archaeologist Dorothy Garrod for a dig in a nearby cave. Amid the rising animosity between the British and the Palestinians, Yusra proves her talent on the site as she manages to dig up a tooth. Following this, the team excavates an entire Neanderthal skeleton. Unfortunately, the newspaper coverage of the exciting find mentions only Garrod, while Yusra, whose discovery of the tooth led to the remains, is ignored.
After working in the film industry in various roles, including casting director, Salim Abu Jabal gained recognition for his award-winning directorial debut, the documentary feature Roshmia. The film was screened at IDFA, Dubai International Film Festival and many other festivals. Roshmia received the Special Jury Prize in Dubai, Best Documentary from MedFilm Festival in Rome and 11 other awards from prestigious Arab and international film festivals. As a director, Abu Jabal’s short documentaries include After 8 Years (2019) and The Language of Almonds (2011). He has also produced films, such as Bilal Alkhatib’s Palestine 87 (2021) and Riyad Dies’ Anatomy of Love (2021).
The Untold Story of Yusra, Salim Abu Jabal’s film selected for the Grant, is further supported by Hessen Film und Medien.
Fatima Wardy
Narrated in three chapters, Fatima Wardy’s film White Musk focuses on teenager Hiba’s complex relationship with her terminally ill mother Suraya. After Suraya’s death, Hiba seeks to process the loss of her mother by performing the ‘ghusl mayyit’ funerary ritual. However, she is racked with guilt as she forgets Suraya's favourite perfume. The film culminates in a dream sequence in which Hiba encounters a healthier version of Suraya, a surreal encounter offering the young girl a sense of closure.
Sudanese British filmmaker Fatima Wardy explores the nature of diasporic African existence, focusing on how displacement leads to both connection and disconnection in the daily lives of immigrants. Wardy began her career as a broadcast journalist at the BBC in London and later joined the Documentary Unit of BBC Studios as an assistant producer. Currently, she is an MFA candidate at the University of Texas in Austin. Her studies have been supported by numerous fellowships, including a Pigott/BAFTA Scholarship and BAFTA/Fulbright Award.
Other supporters of Fatima Wardy’s film White Musk include the University of Texas at Austin, the Islamic Scholarship Fund and Austin Film Society.
Basma Al Sharif
A short visceral exploration of loss, Basma Al Sharif’s film Morgenkreis/Morning Circle is a critique of western cultural hegemony through a seemingly benign childhood institution. The film attempts to bring two experiences together—the earliest experience of anxiety, in which a caregiver separates from a child at daycare, to the apprehension associated with integrating into a new country when yours is no longer liveable.
Basma Al Sharif received an MFA from the University of Illinois in Chicago (2007). She was a resident at the Fondazione Antonio Ratti (2009) and Pavillon Neuflize OBC at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2014–2015). A recipient of the Jury Prize at Sharjah Biennial 9 (2009), she was awarded a Visual Arts Grant by the Fundación Botín (2010) and a Mophradat’s Consortium Commission (2018). She was a fellow of the Berlin Artistic Research Grant Programme (2022–2023) and was nominated for the Prix Aware (2024).
Basma Al Sharif’s film Morgenkreis/Morning Circle is commissioned by The Vega Foundation, with further support from de Appel and Gwaertler Stiftung.
Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.
Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the Foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The Foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the Foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.
Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons. Hoor Al Qasimi serves as President and Director. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.
Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. In 1998, it was named UNESCO's 'Arab Capital of Culture' and has been designated the UNESCO ‘World Book Capital’ for the year 2019.
Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) was established in 1996 as one of the earliest cultural foundations in the Gulf region and Arab world. ADMAF supports the sustainability and creativity of the cultural industries and contributes to enriching Abu Dhabi as a cultural beacon by offering a wide array of initiatives, often in partnership with leading national and international institutions, including Abu Dhabi Festival and several youth and societal programmes and platforms, to support creative talents in the UAE and abroad. For more information, visit the ADMAF website at: www.admaf.org
Alyazeyah Al Marri
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
+971 (0)6 5444113
Images courtesy of artists